i don't think it was direct,

the way i was told i was only meant

for frills and ball gowns

and vhs tapes i dreamt would leak into real life

 

but i was still told, wasn't i

that even all that meant nothing

i could wear dresses that bounced

or try to untangle my hair from my tiara

either way, i was nothing, princess or not

i was still a girl

and we all know that's the worst thing to be

every book i opened told me, you see

 

i have a certain reverence for snow white

and sleeping beauty, letting themselves be saved

(something i could never seem to do)

waiting for a kiss to wake them

but it's always that, isn't it?

in this story,

a queen is so jealous of her beauty

that she curses her to eternal sleep

only to have it broken by a prince's kiss

in this story,

a queen is so jealous of her beauty 

that she curses her to eternal sleep

but wait!

the prince will have to fight a dragon first

and then break the curse with his kiss

maybe i got tired of sleeping curses

or maybe i got tired of female villains whose only motives revolved around the male gaze

maybe i wanted to hear more about the dragon

or what aurora's dreams were like, nightmares or otherwise

maybe i thought a dress and a dance shouldn't have been the solution to cinderella's life of abuse

maybe i thought i shouldn't have been told to wait for someone, something, somewhere

 

don't get me wrong

i would love a ball gown or two right about now

but i grow tired of waiting

the fairy tales are getting better, sure

vhs tapes have turned into dvds about

girls with arrows and swords and hearts of gold

(still no princesses kissing princesses, but more on that another day)

but i long for something still

and i'm not sure if it's thorns

or fire

or palaces with turrets gilded in gold