Squander & Squalor

So honestly,
how do you think Cinderella felt
on her first day in the castle?
Do you think she was cool with all her handmaids?
Do you think she took the elaborate ball gowns
and sumptuous feasts in stride?


Somehow,
I think not.


I think this beautiful
blue soul
fretted and frowned
about her new found wealth.


I mean, sure,
she loved the prince
(who wouldn’t)
and she loved not having to scrub the floors
(phew!)
and the slippers, damn, how dainty.


But, how quickly could she forget her neighbors in their meager drafty dwellings?
How could she squander after she knew squalor?


I don’t think she could,
and as much as she hated shrivelly, soapy hands,
I think she would have been scrubbing
old Mrs. Cupboardnut’s floors,
and taking a gang of knights
to play with the boys and build
a new tree house.


Would that have been enough though?
Could she really return home and trade her rags for royalty?


When the prince travels to lands exotic,
I’m sure she sits alone in the tower,
straining to hear the crackle of a fire,
where finances have been traded for family.


And when she scales her bed,
and sleep kisses her g’night,
of what does she dream, and in the morning,
what does she dare do?


I’m not the narrator of this story.
And the answer is held in cells not yet penned
for children not yet dreamt of.
I can only add myself to the chorus and crowd
who waits and hums silently the tune of her next song.