They called me little princess
not knowing that the words
were sourced in no reality;
it's not the way it works.
I held onto the fairytale
beyond my childhood years,
and found that no-one else
did see, the one they said was me.
In making me as other,
as something rare not real,
they thought that they were loving;
instead they brought me fear.
For even as a child I knew,
that I was not the one,
they set upon a fragile throne,
which had no place in time.
A princess lives in storybooks,
and there can find her place,
not in the world in which we live;
where fantasies just fade.
The child too long remembered,
this dream of self and world,
and so could never know herself;
live truth as she could tell.
In time I took the royal robes,
and cast them to the floor,
and knew myself as woman;
the raw, the real, full born.
Your daughter is no princess,
your son no prince can be,
but each is mortal precious;
in their humanity.
Our prompt simply, to write a poem from the viewpoint of a fairy tale character.
http://wewritepoems.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/prompt-142-its-post-your-poems-day/#respond
not knowing that the words
were sourced in no reality;
it's not the way it works.
I held onto the fairytale
beyond my childhood years,
and found that no-one else
did see, the one they said was me.
In making me as other,
as something rare not real,
they thought that they were loving;
instead they brought me fear.
For even as a child I knew,
that I was not the one,
they set upon a fragile throne,
which had no place in time.
A princess lives in storybooks,
and there can find her place,
not in the world in which we live;
where fantasies just fade.
The child too long remembered,
this dream of self and world,
and so could never know herself;
live truth as she could tell.
In time I took the royal robes,
and cast them to the floor,
and knew myself as woman;
the raw, the real, full born.
Your daughter is no princess,
your son no prince can be,
but each is mortal precious;
in their humanity.
Our prompt simply, to write a poem from the viewpoint of a fairy tale character.
http://wewritepoems.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/prompt-142-its-post-your-poems-day/#respond
This poem is heartbreaking, full of truth and wisdom. Too many parents, fathers in particular, call their daughters "my little princess."
ReplyDeleteI know and I am astonished at how often I hear it today! It is as if little girls are some sort of toy! It is so gender imprisoning and so unrealistic.... why can't we just love our little children as they are without projecting impossible fantasies on to them. I thought we had moved away from gender definitions in the seventies but it seems not!
DeleteGreat sentiment expressed, Ross! Why do we need to live out our fairy tale, hmmm...
ReplyDeleteWow! This one is a real shocker and has me thinking. You did such a powerful job of saying something I have wondered about before. The ending is piercing and straight to the heart. We love them for their humanity. Powerful piece.
ReplyDeletereally like all of your words here....thanks so much for sharing not only words..but wisdom
ReplyDeletereally like all of your words here....thanks so much for sharing not only words..but wisdom
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful and so true.
ReplyDelete