You have trapped a young princess,
Held high in her high tower,
Of male irons and masculine marble,
A monument to never being allowed to cry. The princess
has no mirror,
No sense of who she is because no one notices, Hiding behind
brown eyes and long lashes, Witnessing the outer shell burn.
She will look out her window,
Waiting for the knight to cross the moat
And turn around in an instance
At the sight of her army hair.
She tried on a Queen's dress and shoe
In the kingdom she once resided.
Now that home is no longer her palace,
But a prison inside a prison.
Bars on top of bars,
Brick on top of brick,
This sweet soul who loves to dance and sing Will never push
down hard enough
On the walls that she put up
Before she knew there was hope.
So now I stand as a knight,
Hesitant to cross the moat
To the tower of abandoned desire,
Where my inner princess cries our tears.
Alejandro Barton-Negreiros, ’23