Earthling

This is a poem for the monster girls Who don’t have stars in their skin, Only fire and iron and scales. For the girls who walked alone Into forests and into nights, Deep and dark and endless in their everlasting loneliness For the girls who didn’t emerge, With a crown of gold or a prince. And instead remained amidst the trees And reforged themselves anew For the girls who hid in their beds, Afraid for the monsters lurking near. And who dreamed of slaying the dragon Only to find that he lives within For the girls who aren’t your princess, Who won’t be anyone’s queen. Who will never have a throne And nobody to write their stories down This is for the girls you don’t know, And for all the girls you will know Who choose to breathe fire over mist. This is for the girls that fairytales abandoned.