Cinderella’s Apology Letter

(For my daughter, Eliza)

Oh how I want to love you

But this Cinderella mask they love
Has slipped all but down from above
A mantle where you left your last goodbyes
It caught me off guard, showed a softer side
Too little too late, our love has vandalized
The ways we once knew each other
You were my hero, my rock, mine…
But you had other plans with the world
And now I can’t even get an email
Through to you, it’s your baby girl
Must’ve seen the worse
Must’ve seen the worse
Must’ve seen my worse ~

You’ve got the smile I dreamt of

And you must know that I love you
And you must know that they love you
But, I can’t compete any more, these ally cats
Are all but your adoring whores, and I’m still
Beside you… beside you… county line stretch
Away, alone, here in this bed with your smell
I can almost visualize your body’s warmth
Upon the sheets that rest below the mantle
And so you confess that there’s more…
And now I can’t even get an email
Through to our baby girl,
She must’ve seen the worse
She must’ve seen the worse

She must’ve seen the worse kinds of things in you… and me…
 This Cinderella’s sleep deprived because
She spent the past forty days and nights alone
Thinking of how it used to be, can’t get back to me
And this pumpkin carriage has turned to weathered carrots
Trotting along this ghoulish fool, strings tied to hearts in the sand
Dragging behind me like a old shoe box filled with you, my man
Naked from his ego and drenched in fear, just like I told you
The walls come down and you’re alone, you’re alone…
And I told you so, hate to say it, but I told you so
Yes, I told you how this would all go
So take your last poem from the mantle
Give it to our little girl, keepsake pearl
She must’ve seen the worse
She must’ve seen the worse

Because we both know that she must’ve seen the worst kinds of things ~

David Powers
December 16, 2009