Cinderella and Other Dreams

i lay down to sleep and i don't know
that i shall lay
dormant for a thousand years
until a prince comes to kiss me awake.

i lay down my bucket and throw away my mop
my fair godmother grants me a wish
and i will become a princess
who still washes her own forks and dishes.

i moved into this cottage where seven strange men lived
i ran from a queen who eventually caught up with me
and gave me an apple from under her veil that made me fall asleep
until my prince kissed me awake.

fairy tale princesses all broken in some way
thought men are what wake their slumbers
they have the power
to wake themselves.