The Deal (a poem)

Remembering youth,
those warmer days,
when life was so carefree.

Then she grew,
something changed
from what she thought would be.

Misunderstood,
her calm existence,
no longer was it safe.

Family stressed,
to keep the peace,
she’d find another way.

A deal struck,
she was locked up deep
within the castle stones.

Her heart wilted,
her spirit gone,
yet there she sat alone.

Never fighting,
she stayed inside
though longing to be free.

The lockless cell,
held tightly there,
the real version of me.

Until, at last,
the door swung wide
for everyone to see.

’Twas only then
that they beheld
the Beauty in the Beast.

~ elr