Poem: No Happy Endings

NO HAPPY ENDINGS

Innocent childhood lost

Her nurturing love dissolves

I cling to the tales you told me

That I could be just who I am.

Something broke inside me

The day Death came through my front door

Shattering my fragile heart

My only acceptance is gone.

A void filled with numb emptiness

Fearful, confused, and barren

Bequeathing a hopeless gift

And exposed to unceasing scorn.

My stars and my sky are fallen

A superhero queen now gone

Her life-light and beauty extinguished

From a mother's womb, you are torn.

There's no winner in wars of attrition

Overcoming these gender assaults

While the forces of their norms keep marching

Still, I seek your advice and your love.

Mamma, you're my guardian angel

Still the monsters you warned me of pounced

Now this princess stays trapped in her tower

With no frog to turn into life's love

A princess who writes her own story

Asks will she ever meet her prince?

My fairytale of shattered dreams

Where no happy endings are found.

Mikayla Cadger