翎湘．烙影．閣

Puce Fairy Book

Alice Major

You wanted Rapunzel waiting in a tower

braids of hair like ropes

stairs that only you could climb

my hair would never grow that long enough

you wanted a lady sleeping in a garden

no rings on her fingers

never benn kissed

other princes had made it through my forest

so you tried revisionist tale-telling

and turned them into drawves-

you wanted happy ever after

I forgot to water the roses round the door

I piled up mattresses to cushion you

but you tossed and turned

bruised by that one small nub-

the part of me that is no fairy tale

you brought me a crystal slipper

on a heart-shaped pillow

pretty but slightly passe

my foot was too big to fit into it

you might have been the one true prince

but on mature consideration

I declined, with thanks, the honour

of cutting off my toe