sometimes I feel like
sleeping beauty
waiting
dreaming
hoping someone
will wake me up someday

I've been building up walls
of twisted shadows
of rose thorn brambles
of fear and pride
wrapped around glass shards
and apple cores

I've been sitting in my tower
waiting for a man
to save me
waiting for a sign to let down my hair
and put my records on
waiting for my evanescence song
to come true

what if my prince has
already come and gone
what if he took one look,
grabbed his horse, and moved on

how many missed princes
will it take for me to
wake myself up
to snap out of the daydream
to swim the moat

I'll only keep sinking if I don't try to float

sometimes I feel like
I'm waiting
for someone
to prick my finger on

to kick me out of commission
for a hundred years
to turn off the tears
just long enough for my face to dry

just long enough to stop wondering
if beauty sleep will fix my mind

so I walk around with
hands outstretched
pricking and pressing
my fingers against every
edge
            every sharp corner
            of distrust
     every
                broken bottle
every
            barbed word
  every single
                       moment
       spent alone

and I didn't stop
not when my hands started to bleed
not when the sleep didn't come
not until every spindle
of your smile pricked
my fingers

only then could I drift off
only then could I start
waiting
dreaming
hoping someone would
wake me with a kiss
call my name and
save me

sometimes I feel like
sleeping beauty

and sometimes,
I just fall asleep.

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