Princess of the High Tower
A Poem
the winding road led me here
once upon a time ago,
and you thought you had me trapped
in the lock and key of your careful gaze.
but you are not a god,
no matter what tricks you have
up that careful sleeve of yours,
and you are not my master to serve.
you told me story upon story,
you told me fairy tale upon fairy tale —
but i could feel the bruises as if they were my own
and i could feel the tears well up as if they were a trick of time.
you didn’t want a friend,
you didn’t want a lover,
you didn’t want a cornerstone,
and you didn’t want a church.
no, what you wanted was something else,
something far darker in a locked sphere of being —
a woman to possess and control,
a bride to know in name alone.
i am no fairy tale waif,
and i am not your unkindness to wield —
and i am standing, still trying to understand,
still hoping to know what you are behind those lying eyes.
