perhappened mag
issue 6: FAIRYTALE
they left this one
out of the storybooks
NATASHA KING
once upon a time
a tower sprouted from the tender earth
once upon a time a girl shook out her hair from its casement
once upon a time she ran her fingertips over delicate lichens in the stone
once upon a time she kissed sunlight every morning and wished for this, nothing but this
once upon a time a prince rode up, wishing for a wife
once upon a time he climbed the tower, as ravenous as any wolf
once upon a time he sank his teeth into her as if she were the white stag in the forest
once upon a time a girl grew fangs and a scaly hide
once upon a time she breathed a tongue of fire to char a man's hunger to ash
once upon a time she fought to keep a life of lichen and sunlight
once upon a time a prince battled a dragon
once upon a time he rode back with its wings, a hero
once upon a time he spoke bitterly of a girl he could not save
once upon a time I mixed up my metaphors
once upon a time nobody got their wish
once upon a time there was no moral to the story, except this:
once upon a time
a serpent girl lived ever after in a tower and she was happy
a tower sprouted from the tender earth
once upon a time a girl shook out her hair from its casement
once upon a time she ran her fingertips over delicate lichens in the stone
once upon a time she kissed sunlight every morning and wished for this, nothing but this
once upon a time a prince rode up, wishing for a wife
once upon a time he climbed the tower, as ravenous as any wolf
once upon a time he sank his teeth into her as if she were the white stag in the forest
once upon a time a girl grew fangs and a scaly hide
once upon a time she breathed a tongue of fire to char a man's hunger to ash
once upon a time she fought to keep a life of lichen and sunlight
once upon a time a prince battled a dragon
once upon a time he rode back with its wings, a hero
once upon a time he spoke bitterly of a girl he could not save
once upon a time I mixed up my metaphors
once upon a time nobody got their wish
once upon a time there was no moral to the story, except this:
once upon a time
a serpent girl lived ever after in a tower and she was happy
Natasha King is a Vietnamese American writer and nature enthusiast currently living in North Carolina. Her poetry has appeared in Constellate Magazine, Oyster River Pages, Okay Donkey, Ghost City Review, and others. She spends her spare time writing, prowling, and thinking about the ocean. She can be found on Twitter as @pelagic_natasha.