his dignity went missing in action
turned out to be
a prisoner of war

to hoax a virtue, she fed him champagne from her palms
there on the rose garden battleground
then chained him with her finger
strangled him with affections
aphrodisiacs laced with venom

that girl spun epic tales
everything a knight could dream to
wail drunk from

a lightswitch, is how she played
damsel to tyrant
and my brother, built of sheer trust
tripped for every bit of it
threw his heart her way
she ducked, unbeknownst to him
and love was all they spoke of
her's flat, his mountainous
and he glowed for a while
open arms and skies and woes
let pride fledge from the windows to his soul

of course, she sported pomposity
as if it were a twee, fluffy keychain
brassily bouncing against her candy apple carriage
modeled impudence like another bangle on her bronze wrist
what a mess of smacking lips and pursing pouts
batting caterpillar lashes, same as cracking whips
twirling obsidian curls with magenta claws
because everyone knows straw spins itself to gold
then alas, to black

mercy, he rooted for her
and boy, she ran with that
sprayed spite like perfume
spewed crooked olive branches and lucky clovers
elixirs of brown sugar and sweet pea until she was a dead ringer for
the cover of vogue magazine
glossy, bold, paper-thin and ****
then gone
or that gaudy billboard near exit ten
she posed like a lady of the night
but all he noticed was a princess
what a witch
what a sweet, stupid prince

nonetheless, my baby brother loves her
even after she's whittled him down
to a welcome mat for high heels to flounce over
'cause she can't have that trail of filth catch up to her
so in her wake
my best friend, my closest kin
sacrifices half his sanity
to cover her tracks
as he waits for
whichever comes first
his dignity, or her
to come crawling back