Cinderella - Shoshana Vegh

 

Cinderella

Shoshana Vegh




When I remove my royal robe,
pluck the pearl buttons,
and slip into everyday clothes —
I am still Cinderella.
The glass slipper

waits for me always
on the staircase.
Even the midnight chime
cannot divide me from my dreams.
You are my prince,
and a thousand clichés
float between us yet never wash away
my longing
for the silver lake
where I drift toward you.

My ship of pleasures
is moored to the pier of land —
and though I conquer desire
again and again,
within me lives
the pull of the full moon
shining through us both.

This fire
has no wish to hide.
Only my betraying body
distorts my voice,
wrinkles, rusts —
and from me you can draw
only secret tones,
the silencesof a distant woman