a / t w i s t

the clock

struck

midnight &

they were gone.

running and smiling and loving

the air

finally, a pure breath

after years

of the girl’s mistreatment

& the boy’s lack of freedom.

beauty:

the air that twirled around their one soul.

as they were dancing in the ballroom,

her dress was shifting back into rags

before it even struck midnight.

nerves firing her heart,

she thought it was over.

she assumed he wouldn’t care for such a poor girl.

so she cried in his ear,

i’m cinderella.

smiling, he said,

& i’m the prince.

all that mattered was their love.

so they fled,

kissing & holding hands.

but right before they ran down the steps,

she paused.

& this time,

his nerves were the ones overpowering.

she reached her arm to his shoulder for support

as she

kicked off

her glass slippers