Rapunzel Is Not Locked In Her Castle
Jordyn Damato
She prefers to stay indoors—
no bugs in her hair, no
men begging for her hand
(she prefers cats and women
that are prettier than her
and smell like butterscotch)
Beauty is a privilege—
She understands this better than
her mother who always tries
to force her outside; to share
her beauty with the world
and be repaid in riches and royalty
and Rolex’s.
Rapunzel has had enough.
Eggs charred on a frying pan,
she brushes her teeth with
the barrel of a gun—pulls
the trigger on a stray chameleon
that’s been keeping her up at night.
Knife in hand, en-route to
her scalp, blonde tinsel
falls to the ground—she is nothing
but an egghead now,
She is the before picture
of a princess transformation.
A garbage bag torn
from the trash.
she twirls in her new
gown with a grin.
“Now,”
She tells her mother,
who can’t stop crying.
“Now I am ready to go outside.”
Jordyn Damato currently attends Central Michigan University where she’s an accelerated masters student in the English program, with a focus in Creative Writing. Her prose and photography have appeared in Central Review, and she has work forthcoming in Bullshit Lit and Woolgathering Review. Jordyn has a passion for exploring the strange truths in her work, no matter how difficult that may be. She tweets unprofessionally at @jordyndamatoo.
