Once Upon a Time Poems

Cinderella .II. --The Aftermath

Time sculpting its surprise,
a picture frame in twilight zone:
pine cones opened by gauche gales,
the lake by the castle covered in snow,
thrashed old sails,
splintered wood chunks,
underneath the ice.

Image of beauty sunk low,
drowned on the path of destruction.
This fierce façade
breaking brittle glass slippers
in an empty world of repeating patterns.

Into the midnight mist,
one mortal architect
bitten by the faithful mice,
The Prince, shivering, wails:
"I still have many joys in my castle!"

With wild gestures
he stumbles drunk in the darkness
to the howling woods.
The ogre has taken over
and the carriage broken.

Love shattered, turned to ice
hopes in rags,
dreams reversed
to ashes,
Cinderella slips away,
running from fate,
tearing through gloom,
freed from weight,
in a single stride.

Then, she gapes
at herself, amazed,
for she sees her strength,
her consciousness,
abiding spirit,
and instantaneous courage.
She is a
true princess,
fairy-tale tough.