[PoemADay] No. 3

Bluebeard [No. 3]

i was not always a laughing girl,

pleased with the sun and sky

and the brown silk of your skin

for i once had it in my head to marry a man

whose secrets were dark and deep

though I did not know it then

he said,

do not look into my closet, girl

and all that is mine will be yours

and i did not

i wore the key to his house on my ringfinger

a wealth of emeralds and diamonds

too heavy for my hand

too heavy for anyone

let alone girls who had tasted laughter

we will not talk of darknesses

or distances that have passed

because they are past

they have no power here

enough that I found the strength to open the door of his closet

where I found a laughing girl

crouched low along the floorboards

i wondered:

how many like us in this closet, girl

weighed down with gems?

who had forsaken the sun and sky

and happiness

for the wealth of emeralds and diamonds

i was not always a laughing girl,

pleased with the sun and sky

and the brown silk of your skin

but i am now

05/3/10