Princess Dreams

Open another chapter and read
of the girl, a little bit off
from the girls around her.
Was she prettier?
Was she smarter?
Did these things
get lost among
hand-me-down rags
and bitter tears
from ragged fears
of things no one
wants to know about?

Eyes wide, swimming strides
as the others gossip
and the others giggle.
Just let the breaststoke
swallow the beating
silence inside your
head for a while
and pretend a second
will turn into years
that cut across time
into days when
even love can't bury
the distant past
of those princess
dreams I don't have.