Rapunzel

Today, I want you

To take me away.

I want to close my eyes

So tightly

That the light from

The hearts

Of dying stars

Can illuminate my eyelids

Like a quiet and dark

Carousel,

Without the piercing

Sunlight to remind me

Of my still reality.

In that darkness,

I want to hear

Only you.

Let the sound of your voice

Touch every inch of my skin,

Entwining itself

Around my feet,

My thighs,

My hips,

Cinched so tight around my waist

Curled so close around my chest

That I can barely feel

My own breaths.

Wrapping around my neck,

My mouth,

My eyes and my ears

Until there is nothing but

Silence, and you.

I want to hear your stories.

I am too tired

Of telling my own.

–

Today, I want you

To make me an escape.

Don’t swing your swords

Or break down these walls,

The bricks here

Have been for years,

And my arms ache

From their creation,

From the construction of

This tower,

Too much to have to

Build it all again.

Enter this tower.

Pick up your paint

Brush away the pain,

Paint pictures so pretty

That I can forget

What’s real.

Show me mountains

And rivers,

Love and peace,

Paint me midnights

And sunsets

And a thousand shining stars,

And everything else that

I miss loving.

Show me what the world is like

Once again.

Paint me princesses and power,

Phoenixes and fantasy,

Realities and unrealities

That exist far

From my own isolation.

Show me what this tower hides.

Show me what it is to be alive.

–

Today, I am tired.

I am exhausted from

Writing,

Singing,

Telling my stories

Over, and over, and over again.

–

I have spoken

Of heartbreak

And the reasons behind

The bricks I created,

That keep me worlds apart

From you.

The way loss has

Frightened and desolated,

The way love has

Terrified and isolated,

The way heartbreak

Has left its enchantments,

Cruel and unforgiving,

Upon every fiber of my being.

–

I have spoken

Of crippling grief

And the reasons behind

The mortar I lay between the bricks

That keeps me stars apart

From you.

The way melancholy has

Emptied and numbed,

The way desperation has

Scarred and bled,

The way depression

Has tied down my limbs

With weights too heavy

To lift on my own.

–

I have spoken

Of invasion

And the reasons behind

The tower I built

That keeps me universes apart

From you.

The way violation has

Stripped me of strength,

The way violence has

Stripped me of trust,

The way ruin

Has birthed volatility

Cruel and unforgiving,

Upon every neuron in my body.

–

These stories cascade

From my mind,

Unravelling and unrolling

And encircling,

Shooting from my head

Repeated and rehearsed

So often, so deeply,

And for so long,

That they are now

Thick, tangible strands

That I sit to comb

And braid every morning.

When I toss the braid

Out of the window,

It reaches the ground,

Almost as a plea

For some valiant passerby

To see the sheer length

Of my stories,

And save me.

–

But I am tired.

Tired of having to

Thread these stories

Through my fingers,

And let them linger

On and around

My being.

Tired of braiding them

Into pleas for help,

Of recalling them

In my mind.

I am tired

Of being

A damsel in such

Devastating distress.

–

So today, I want you

To take me away.

To gently climb up

The braided misfortunes

And find me in my tower.

I want you to remember

That here

Is where I need to be,

Is the only place

For safety,

Is where I must stay

Until I am strong enough

To climb down

And walk

On my own.

I don’t want salvation,

Or rescue

From the tower

I built with my own two hands,

I don’t want shining swords

And glittering armor

To fight through

Each barrier.

I want you

To tell me your stories,

Paint me your pictures,

And use your shimmering steel

Only to shear off

The unending, entrapping

Strands of these stories,

Until they are short enough

That my mind

Can no longer feel

Their weight.

So that I can remember

Who I was

Before these long, flowing tresses

Came to define me.

So that I can remember

What I loved,

In the gorgeous world,

Break down

The walls

Myself,

And be

My own

Savior.

–

Two posts in one day, I know! But I wanted to have my structured and my free verse side by side, to suit your preferences. 🙂 Do tell me which you preferred! And while you’re at it, let me know what your favorite Disney movie is! (I think my love for Tangled kind of shows through this piece.)