Rescue

When a girl sees the world
Through a window with bars
To be blinded and charmed by the lights of the stars
And hear music and singing
To brighten the ringing of no one here
Silence is all you have
In the dark of a crumbling tower
Where you were promised the life of a princess
And dreams to come true.
Watching the movies where little girls
Like you
Were rescued by princes
From slumbers and witches
From dragons and towers like this.
All by a true love’s kiss.
So you wait in your tower
Growing doubtful each day
That someone will come
And take you away.
To break off the chains
And unbind the spells
Vanquish the demon
That threw you in hell -
Heal all the wounds and
Kiss better the scars
And then carry you far from here.

So you wait by the window
Fighting each day
As you count and bide every minute away
Trapped by the visions
Of magicians with knives
That cut you in half and then leave you alive
Of smiling barons, with open arms
With sharp white teeth
That close on your liveliness
Tie you with strings
And then he makes you dance
The world loses colour
And you lose your vividness
The crack of a whip
Is enough to take the life out of you
Take the hope out of living
Take the you out of you
And leave you an outline
Standing on a page
Not daring to hope, or look ahead
Not expecting for more
Only curled up in dread
In the warmth of your blankets
Hiding under your bed.
Princes and happy endings
Banished from
Your head.
They never come,
And when they do,
They bring darkness
And trouble instead.
Paper crowns
And paper promises
Brittle as glass
Love, and commitment,
They write up the ending
But don’t bother to stay for it,
Promise to rescue you
But you never make it
Instead your frogs
Turn to princes
The princes to villains
The story goes on
They add to a chapter
A never ending adventure
That waits for the laughter,
That waits for the happy,
That waits for the end,
Knows it wont get there
But now lets just pretend that it will.

All of a sudden, the world is alight
With fireworks
The sky is as blue as anything
The world is as new as its ever been
And happy ending seems found.
The prince from the pages
Was real after all
He bought music, and laughter
And warmth to our halls,
Healed all the cracks and repaired all the tears,
He made the girl, in her tatters and rags
Feel like the princess she never had,
She finally felt she belonged -
He swore for forever
His face was a smile –
A mask, it’s a mask,
And you’ve known for a while
The dream falls apart
And now you know you were dreaming
You wake with a start
And you realise your screaming
The love of your life
Was just an illusion
Playing pretend,
Now you’re lost in confusion
He played with your heart
He stole it away
He promised to rescue you
He said that he’d stay -
Beneath the charm
Beneath shining armour
Hiding secrets, destroying your honour
Lies enough to disarm
The sharpest of eyes,
If only you’d seen the shadows
Beneath the starryeyes of disguise…
If only you’d known
He wouldn’t save you
But hook you and sink you
And then give you a push
To watch you fall
Through the skies
From the top of the castle
You built together
The castle of air, dreams, and lies.

And now, so princeless
So hopeless,
Defeated,
Don’t know where to look
Don’t know where to stand
Don’t know who you are,
Lost in the dust
Of a life lived in fear
And of dreams that were broken -
There’s nothing left here….
You pick up the pieces
You try to start over
But so many times
To pick up and start over
So many times to try and get through
Look ahead and not backwards
Not down at your shoes….
I pick up those pieces
I start again
I’ll rebuild my dreams
Without you.
Without anyone.
I’ve been looking around me
To find something to lean on
Someone to guide me
And someone to rescue me,
I’ve been looking outside
At the stars in the distance
Wishing for someone
To carry me there.
To charm sweet every frown
And vanquish my demons,
Heal my scars,
And hand me a crown
And make me a princess,

My mistake.
Instead of my rags
I’ll put on some armour
Instead of hiding away
I’ll pick up a sword
Instead of getting beaten
I’ll pick up a shield.
I’ll save myself,
And find my own castle,
Get there by my own two feet –
I don’t need a ride,
Or a push, or a lift
I’ll get there on my own.
No more waiting around
For prince charming:
I don’t need you to rescue me.