Out With the Old, In With the New

Tonight you're dressed

like the princess you've

always dreamed of being;

but under that,

you're hiding.

Those gloves conceal

the callouses of your workers hands,

just as the fullness of

that dress obscures

your skeletal figure and

your bones creaking under the

weight of all the stares,

all trying to figure you out.

And yet,

prince charming didn't try,

at least, not initially.

He enjoyed the moment,

that fleeting, perfect moment where

you were just a girl and

he was just a boy

and this was just a dance.

Once upon a time,

you could've been

his princess without time being

your queen.

Some ladies, I imagine,

seized prince charming

as soon as you left, and you

must've thought "this is it."

What if it had been?

What if that slipper that

became the prince's souvenir of you

had shattered?

I'd hope you would've thought yourself

more than a tourist attraction,

that you didn't need a prince

and his grandiose lifestyle

for you to know your life

was in your hands

and that you could never take

it back from your stepmother

because she had never held it-

Cinderella, I imagine when your

foot slid into that glass slipper

you must've felt relieved.

And yet,

in that moment, where

he was more than just a boy

and you were more than just a girl,

you must've realized you just gave him

your life.

You must've thought,

heart hardened and skin tough with callous:

"This is it."