Cinderella

Coarse ugly hair, obtruding jaw,

mangled teeth,

her love-struck eyes startled me,

she looked possessed,

wanting only to dance with me.

For hours, at the wedding party,

her radiant stepsisters fell tenderly

into the arms of young gentlemen.

But I hesitated—out of fear,

afraid to hold

her disabled body in my arms,

musing bitterly instead over her

beautiful and wicked stepsisters

and how they neglected her

the whole night,

unaware

she even existed.

12/15/2005