Caged Bird by Linda M. Crate

she is beautiful,
but they don't see her as a person
rather some fairy-tale
princess;
i can see the loneliness in her eyes
begging someone to smash
the beauty so someone can see her 
soul—
to them she is some conquest
or object to be placed in a tower,
but not a living and breathing being with 
thoughts and dreams of her own;
suddenly there's a hand on her arm indicating
that she's lingered too long
rapunzel leaves with the prince
but neither of them look happy
the princess and the prince poised on the very
steeple of despair.







Linda M. Crate's works have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies both online and in print. She is the author of the novels in the Magic Series and the forthcoming Phoenix Tears. She has always found beauty and depth in things that both know light and darkness.