When I was a child
I used to read pop up books
Of fairy tales
Always reading too fast
Skipping to the happy ending
I drew myself as the perfect princess
Long hair and a big heart
So ready to find a prince
In silver paper armor
That I didn't read into you
Rather, skipping to a
Less than happy
Ending
There were ***** of secrets
That you gently folded over
Like Mad magazine covers to hide
Your little mistakes
Folded neatly between our highlights
But one flaw became a ribbon that I pulled
And pulled
Until the full picture was open
A ruined page unable to be ripped from
My spine
No matter how hard I tried
I've looked it over so many times
It's memorized
So every time you try to turn the page
I see the words before my eyes
Until all lines blur with tears
Until I have to set us on a dusty old shelf
And hope I can forget
Where I left you