Lament of the Princess

There isn’t much difference
Between fairytales and the real world
No matter which universe I escape to
The story is always centred around
How I am the weakling and you my saviour
Even if the title of the story is my name
It’s you who’s the hero
After all, what chance did I have in a world where
Your single kiss was enough
To save the day
To raise me from the dead
To bring forth the perfect happy ending to my story
And what chance do I have now
When I can’t go to the school
When I can’t feel safe about going out of my house alone
When you burn me at the altar of dowry
But you can’t chain my soul forever
I can feel my heart pulsing with power
As my voice becomes louder and louder
And you can be sure that one day
The princess is going to look her saviour in the eye
And tell him that she does not need saving.

Maliha Iqbal is a student and writer based in Aligarh, India. Many of her short stories, write-ups, letters and poems have been published on platforms like Creativity Webzine, Countercurrents, Café Dissensus, Cerebration and Borderless Journal.

Featured image: Pro Church Media / Unsplash