Cinderella, in the Pitch

It's midnight
And the world's still upside down
Three days later
Stone footed in the pitch
My head perhaps 
Can bear the fated crown
My heart though
Has no precedence for this

Am I a fool?
Once more running from my prince
Or wise for trusting not
The zealous man
Can he love me
from a masquerader's kiss?
Would he trade a lady’s dance
For servant's hand?

Meanwhile this pitch
Will swallow like the ash
Of Mother's pyre,
Cold and flameless as the dead
Shoes of gold
Or slippers made of glass
I know neither matter ever
In the end

For wishes gleam
Less brightly when the day comes
And magic burns less potent
For the sane
Have I the shine
To hold a prince's true love?
Three days later
And he's never asked my name

So though I know
Back home I will forget
The stardust
Quickly melting from my gown
I still hobble barefoot from him
In the pitch
It's midnight
And the world's still upside down

Written sometime between 2009-2011. One of what I call my “Fairy Tale Series”, when I wrote a few pieces about specific moments in fairy tale characters’ lives.

Context, for the uninitiated: This refers primarily to the fairy tale version of the story, where the ball lasted 3 nights, and she attended every night and ran every night. On the last day, the Prince knows she’ll do it again so he covers the steps with pitch so that she’ll get stuck. That’s how she ends up leaving a golden shoe. Also, rather than a fairy godmother, it was her mother’s spirit that gave her the gown. (And also, yes, I am a big fan of “Into the Woods”. Why do you ask?)

fairy tale series, medium, myth / fantasy, rhyming