Mar 2013
When she was but eight
And the world was kind
A winter struck world
Was a Snow Queen palace.
City buildings of crumbled brick
Under the scowl of a cumulus gaze
Were castles dusted with snowflakes
Like in her fairy tale book.
And the knot of **** choked
by the rusted iron fence
Was a magical beanstalk
That towered into the sky
Not impaled by cold gray metal
Or stifled by flakes of iron rot
Nor kneeled in a final prayer
Or in the last cry of a hungered beggar.
When she was but ten
And the world was still kind
She wore her hair in pigtails
That boys pulled for as she ran.
And she heard giggles
As she put on her new glasses to read the board
And wondered what the worth of sight meant
As much as any ten year old could.
But the cracked, ashen sidewalk
Was still a cobbled walkway
Leading to an enchanted forest of gumdrops
Like in her fairytale book.
When she was fourteen
And the world was more strange
She wore her mother’s makeup
And the boy with dimples smiled at her.
And she tucked her glasses into her bag
Even though she couldn’t see
Along with her book of fairy tales
Because boys didn’t like girls who were smart.
When she was sixteen
The world grew cold
And as was the instinct of lightning to strike
Was the spark of her tongue.
Crumpled papers slashed with red
And threats of a future looming meant nothing
Because of the boy next to her in the seat of his car
And the promises his smile held
But as the palm of his hand slid up her thigh
And she felt the lust in his soul roll off him
The beat of her heart spoke trepidation
But his smile reassured her and she succumbed.
When she was of twenty
And the world was one bleak
She held close to her chest the head of a babe
And rocked him gently as they cried in unison.
Papers scattered on a wooden table
In a room flickering with dying light
Asked for more than what they implied
And for more than what she could give.
And in the cold light of day snow fluttered past her window,
Fermented teardrops singed and bitter
The walkways on which they lay just broken sidewalks
The castles upon their touch crumbling to dust.
And the world was kind
A winter struck world
Was a Snow Queen palace.
City buildings of crumbled brick
Under the scowl of a cumulus gaze
Were castles dusted with snowflakes
Like in her fairy tale book.
And the knot of **** choked
by the rusted iron fence
Was a magical beanstalk
That towered into the sky
Not impaled by cold gray metal
Or stifled by flakes of iron rot
Nor kneeled in a final prayer
Or in the last cry of a hungered beggar.
When she was but ten
And the world was still kind
She wore her hair in pigtails
That boys pulled for as she ran.
And she heard giggles
As she put on her new glasses to read the board
And wondered what the worth of sight meant
As much as any ten year old could.
But the cracked, ashen sidewalk
Was still a cobbled walkway
Leading to an enchanted forest of gumdrops
Like in her fairytale book.
When she was fourteen
And the world was more strange
She wore her mother’s makeup
And the boy with dimples smiled at her.
And she tucked her glasses into her bag
Even though she couldn’t see
Along with her book of fairy tales
Because boys didn’t like girls who were smart.
When she was sixteen
The world grew cold
And as was the instinct of lightning to strike
Was the spark of her tongue.
Crumpled papers slashed with red
And threats of a future looming meant nothing
Because of the boy next to her in the seat of his car
And the promises his smile held
But as the palm of his hand slid up her thigh
And she felt the lust in his soul roll off him
The beat of her heart spoke trepidation
But his smile reassured her and she succumbed.
When she was of twenty
And the world was one bleak
She held close to her chest the head of a babe
And rocked him gently as they cried in unison.
Papers scattered on a wooden table
In a room flickering with dying light
Asked for more than what they implied
And for more than what she could give.
And in the cold light of day snow fluttered past her window,
Fermented teardrops singed and bitter
The walkways on which they lay just broken sidewalks
The castles upon their touch crumbling to dust.
