Hey, Princess ...

A hidden princess moves about the castle- 

I go after her - 

Making promises that I will keep.  

I am mad with her 

“Yes, Princess-  some of them didn’t keep their promises. “

I understand why she thinks that, for her, promises aren’t something true

Exasperating! to need and not find

To get turned into a punchline 

I write notes on the castle walls to her that say:

I KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO KEEP LOOKING - AFTER THEY SAID, “I CAN’T HELP YOU! “

I CAN HELP YOU!  

she can feel that I am mad with her, for her. 

I'm frustrated with her, about their pathologies.

 I’m not ashamed to say it for her if she can’t-  or just doesn’t want to

Their pathologies, after all,  are something he hardly knows herself without. 

how can she talk to what she thinks of as, herself?

I’m sorry with her for their harsh punishments

I’m mad for her and  I understand

that

Even if she’s loud they don’t hear her

Even if she’s in color they don’t see her

She’s invisible 

But the walls say:  I CAN SEE YOU PRINCESS!

No matter how she is, or how she runs

I will never send her back into the dark.   

Never before been closer 

to  holding my princess in the castle

To asking her where she wants to go after serving her sentence

To listening to her whole body 

as she curls into me

and whispers 

her wants

I'm on her trail now- 

She is free to come. 

Even if the rest of them vanish 

or run a skewer through me,

she is safe 

with me, she is safe.