Fairy tales are never true,
happy endings are not for me and you,
pinioned by our rustic lives
as daughters, sisters, mothers, wives.
With the future so uncertain,
we cower behind our dingy curtains,
praying for footmen, never a prince –
they’d be so much harder to convince
that beneath our neglected exteriors
breathe princesses, scarce and superior
to other Cinderellas. In the meantime,
we wait for a magic midnight to chime
while dusting wainscots in smoky kitchens,
ever hoping, ever wishing.
Kim M. Russell, 2017
Image found on Pinterest
My response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Poem Sketching
Margaret is our host today. She says that she was introduced to ‘Poem sketching’ in 2012 by Ella at The Imaginary Garden with Real Toads; she has given us a link that challenge for a description of how to create a word list.
Margaret says that she has her own version of a word list, whereby she writes down words that apply to photos she has taken – what she sees in the photos and the feelings and memories they evoke. She writes down 10 – 20 words and uses her thesaurus to search for ‘richer’ word choices. She has shared a poem she created from such a word list.
Today’s challenge is to create and use a word list, following the 2012 challenge rules or Margaret’s version.
I found my words in a list of unusual names of moths: pinion, spotted, scarce, footmen, smoky, wainscot, neglected, rustic, dingy, uncertain
writing in north norfolk 
Whistles!❤️ I absolutely love this version of Cinderella, Kim 🙂 it’s more realistic and close to life. Especially these lines; “we wait for a magic midnight to chime while dusting wainscots in smoky kitchens, ever hoping, ever wishing” really spoke to me. Beautifully penned!❤️
PS: Your word list is soo cool! 😀
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Thank you, Sanaa! I found the word list in an article about moths and some of the weird names they have. I think it was the dingy footman that got me thinking of Cinderella. I haven’t written a fairy tale poem for so long, it was about time I did. maybe I’ll write another one soon.
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What a brilliant idea for finding a word list! And what wonderful words they are. Your Cinderella story rings all too true.
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Amazing where you can find list…Moths…who would have known they could open a door to such a wonderful retell of Cinderella.
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😊
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This is my favorite part:
“pinioned by our rustic lives
as daughters, sisters, mothers, wives.”
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Thank you, Emilie!
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sometimes, we create our own fairy tales…. that is our defense mechanisms to escape from the harsh realities of life….
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So true!
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Brava.. 🌹🌹🌹
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This poem is so very apt for these times. The Cinderella complex has turned into a nightmare of dubious obsessions with outward perfection.
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It certainly has, Kerry. Child- and teenage-hood is not like it used to be. too many princesses these days.
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The Cinderella complex hits many of us. Very timely and powerful writing.
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Thank you, Susie.
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nice word list!
liked the poem too 🙂
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😊
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a prince would be so much harder to convince – what a great take on “cinderella” I really really like this – and really far truer than any Cinderella story.
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Thank you, Margaret!
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