We were—
I was a little girl.
And Belle,
She tamed the Beast.
But me?
Why couldn’t I?
Where was my kiss
To undo the apple’s curse?
When life split skin
With a poisoned pick—
Where was my prince
With the diamond-fit glass,
Choosing me
Like fate in slippered form?
I know
Ever after
Doesn’t exist.
But still—
Why can’t it?
It’s not just
Systemic.
That little girl—
She still dances
In the chambers of my chest,
Twirling
In a tower of silence.
She wants out.
She wants
Freedom.
To be rescued
By wonder.
To be fought for
By a knight—
As brave as Orpheus,
As wild as Robin,
To be wrapped
In a red hood
That feels like home.
She gave up her voice
To be seen,
And still—
No one heard her.
She slept through the curse
Only to wake
To a world that moved on
Without her.
Somewhere—
Somehow—
We learned
To reach for more.
To stretch our fingers
Beyond ceilings,
Into stars—
To land softly
On carpets
Woven from dreams and daring.
We want to wake
Into that story,
To breathe inside
Her bedtime fables,
To be fought for
By the brave,
The kind,
The steady stable boy
Who doesn’t flinch
When the dark
Steals the light.
Tell me—
Is that
Too much
To ask?
Why can’t I have more—
A voice that sings
The heart of my dreams,
Instead of being caught
In the teeth
Of eels seeking flesh?
Why must I drown
Each time I believe?
Why am I always left
Shipwrecked—
Again?
Why—
Can’t I
Have more?
Instead,
We’ve fallen
Into vats of toxin—
Loved and hated
Like Harley Quinn,
My softness weaponized,
My laughter sharpened,
Painted in his palette
Until I forgot
My original color.
And he—
He wore grief
Like The Joker wears lipstick,
Grinning through ruin,
Turning love
Into a punchline.
He needed chaos,
So I became it—
Thinking maybe then
He’d hold me
Without harm.
I was Electra,
Forged in shadow,
The daughter of death and vengeance,
Haunted by men who trained me
To destroy
What I once wanted to protect.
I didn’t fall in love—
I fell into grief
Disguised as loyalty.
Where was Spider-Man
When the world collapsed?
Swinging between guilt and duty,
Too tangled in loss
To choose me.
He said he cared—
But only when
He thought I wouldn’t ask him
To stay.
And Captain America—
The golden boy with a buried heart.
He spoke of justice,
But left me behind
In the ashes of principle.
Because sometimes
Valor is just
A shield you hide behind
When you’re too afraid
To love what bleeds.
But me—
I dream of being
Wonder Woman,
Unbent,
Unbroken.
Wielding truth
As a weapon,
Compassion
As armor.
The kind of woman
Who doesn’t flinch
When asked to carry the world—
But also doesn’t apologize
For asking someone
To carry her heart.
Why must my longing
Be laughed off
Like a joke
On a pamphlet?
I just want more.
And not be told
To grow out of that—
As if I’m silly
For making the ask,
As if I’m just
Some misshaped Romantic
With no sense.
And still—
I deserve more.
J.N. Rose 