By: Linda M Crate

i can be soft as petals,
but i can be cutting
as thorns;
gave you my worst and my best
thought inbetween the scars
we both had that we
could find this thing that is so often
sought: true love—
i clipped my own wings
sought entrapement
because everyone always told me
that i was beautiful and marriage was the
norm
that one day my prince would come,
but they never warned me
that he may just leave me in the wood as he
sought another because he was
charming yet not sincere—
i have long since learned to wax and wan and
fold inward upon myself
more fragile and vulnerable queens the world
has ever known than the one who refused
to speak,
and so i shed my womanhood
became a king
so i could govern my own kingdom
one day my love will come
but he will have to fight for the title of king because
i don’t trust so easily as i did
when i fell for you.