'Rapunzel' - a Prose Poem for Rensoul17's Poetry Dice Challenge

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I realise it’s me I’m dreaming of; the princess in the tower of a castle full of disappearances. The candles flickering on things I live with. Those I don’t. The King is dead, at least, I know. An arrow or a poisoned apple - heart disease - it hardly matters. Nobody is coming to the rescue.

I can’t find the die I need to tell me which side of the bed to rise from. There’s a compass that I keep for such a crisis but its magnet’s shot. No use crying - just another thing I’ll have to learn to not rely on.

Time to leave. I am the bee that stumbles frantically against my window. Let it out and watch it trace its helixes against the sun, burn up, be ashen faced. I close the window. Where’s the door? The keyhole shrinks with my attempts to pick it.

Something in this room would have me stay here for eternity. Insidious, the gratitude for comfort of a cage. The portrait of myself against the wall, its furrowed brow, the frown etched deep beneath me. Violent obscenities come bubbling from the stomach but my lips won’t speak them.

I am trying not to be afraid, but at the same time I am also trying to breathe.

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@lazarus-wist

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_{This piece was written for the endlessly creative 'Poetry Dice Challenge' hosted by @Rensoul17, and is centred around the twin themes of pain and invisibility. I'd like to extend a warm thanks to Rensoul for being such a generous and encouraging host, and the best of luck to all the other entrants. There's such a high standard this week and lots of great poems to read - I highly recommend checking them out if you get the chance.}

_{Thanks for reading.}