Tuesday, April 26, 2016

April 20 - Step-Sister's Lament

The prompt was to write a poem as the minor character in a fairy tale

I didn’t even want
to go to the ball
wearing this
ridiculous dress
that mother and sister
think is so posh
their dreams of
snagging a prince
not one of my own

I wanted to wear
long pants with
shiny black boots
a pirate shirt
billowing cape
with a saber
at my side
sans face paint
and curled wig
wearing only a
roguish smile
upon my lips as
I asked her to dance
this beauty I knew
as Cinderella
into whose
home I’d been thrust
by mother’s marriage
to her father

The first time that
I saw her amid
introductions all round
in morning’s light
among the roses
of her garden
my heart lurched so
that I thought
myself about to die

From that moment on
I lived for the sound
of her voice and
every waking moment
I sought reason
to spend with her
until her father’s
untimely death
and yes
I do wonder about that
when her life
changed in this house
from sibling to servant
under mother’s cruelty
that is such I dare not
attempt to play the hero

So here I sit alone
in this cage of the
feminine silk and tulle
watching her waltz
across the room with
the kingdom’s prince
knowing in this moment
that I will never be
a suitor for her heart

Mother arrives
admonishments fly
sit up straight
straighten your gown
smile pretty
at least pretend
you’re having
a good time for
the gentlemen here
it’s likely you’ll never
gain a prince
but a husband
of some kind
must be had

I watch her twirl
around the room
so light and beautiful
in his arms
that I desperately 
long to be mine
her rescue is at hand
but there is none
to be had for me…

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