Cinderella

She double checks the lock

On the bathroom door

And twirls again

Like she did on that dance floor,

Her prince in her arms.

A thousand flashing lights

Turning the world into hundreds

Of still-images, a flip book.

Music drumming the floorboards

Begging her feet to dance, jump, spin

Anything but stand still.

So she doesn’t—

She dances barefoot in front of the mirror,

Loving her own beauty—

Loving her own grace.

And when the fantasy fades away

She pauses in front of her reflection,

Lost in a bitter-sweet ending.

All nights must strike midnight—

Nothing will last past the bell.

And it has already rung.

--Megan

Jokes

Life is a joke to her,

            He announces in a voice

                        Steeped in superiority

I smile through the truth

            Knowing he fell for the lie

                        And bitter that he couldn’t see otherwise

Yes—life is a joke

            A cruel one that never ends

                        And has no punch line

It lashes at each in turn

            As others laugh at the hilarity

                        And don’t notice the tears

We play along

            We do as it says

                        And some of us—we laugh

But the joke keeps on going

            Despite the dying grins

                        Fading as people drop away

I laugh because

            It is that or crying

                        And mocking overrules giving up

I’ve never heard

            A joke so serious,

                        So willing to kill its listeners

But, sure, say

            Life is a joke

                        And I will laugh


By Megan

Confessions

What have I come to?

I’m trying to glare a confession

from the ceiling

an apology

out of the wall.

I’m daring the door to open

and the bookcase to fall.

And yet I jump at every noise.

So this is what life is.


By Megan

Tricks

One hides himself with magic tricks

            Another with logic and shapes

She keeps her voice fast so that

            Her cover will not break

He’s alone and crowds gather in the gaps

            Facts prove the world is sane

Her father died and not yet

            Has she forgotten the pain

The world is harsh to those of skin

            So to armor it turns hard

But all it takes is eyes and ears

            To shatter the walls to shards

A card will slip from his deck

            A fact will prove untrue

A word escapes and makes her stutter

            Vulnerability suddenly made new

The world will learn and it will judge

            Their armor shall rust away

But what will remain of the broken worlds

            That behind their walls, decay?

She writes to hide the truth of things

            And to make the bitter sweet

But Truth remains in words of lead

            That renders lies obsolete


by Megan

The Anger's Master

knife twisting

black poison clouding

suffocation—death

but not quite

he rises from ashes

of broken dreams

releasing waves of smoke

by Megan