LOVE IN PLACES LOFTY AND LOW by Penny-Anne Beaudoin page 2/3
Understand this -
the prince was an accident
a mistake
a deception
had i known the voice that called up to me
bright soul, bright soul
let down your long golden hair
was not that of my sweet witch
i’d have thrown myself down from the tower
before i’d ever have let him in
i thought she must be ladened with a load of firewood
to pull on my tresses so
and when a man
a man
bounded through our window
grinning and bellowing
behold the face of your deliverance!
i screamed the first scream of my life
clamping his hand over my mouth
he drew his steely sword
hacked off my braids
and used them to lash me to the bedposts
wrist ankle ankle wrist
(how even golden fetters can burn!)
trust me, he earnestly implored
this is how it’s done
how it’s supposed to be
trust me, he said again
and in no time
we’ll have you
all straightened out
as for what happened next
well
he was the first man i ever knew
i’d like to believe his intentions were true
then the voice i thought i knew better than any other
sounded from below
bright soul, bright soul
let down your long golden hair
whereupon the prince leapt off me
made sure the coils of my glory were securely anchored to the bedposts
and flung to my witch the instrument of her death
laughing as he did so
climb up, climb up, you old she-devil
he chortled to himself
my sword and i await
my beloved hastened up the spire
but hesitated on the portal when she beheld me
bound
eyes running clear
blood on the bed
and the prince with sword upraised
let this image fill your wicked eyes
he cried
and be your eternal hell!
then he pierced her through
and the sound
as she struck the earth
was no more than that of a bird
falling from the sky
he released me then
and together we climbed down my amputated braids
stepped over the fallen angel
the shattered saint
sprawled at the tower’s base
and rode off to my saviour’s castle
we married the next day
hero-prince and rescued damsel
[previous] . 1 . 2 . 3 . [next]