This is the story I won’t be telling you tonight.
No handsome prince wakes, eyes filled with tears
he has and hasn’t cried. No mug of chocolate
will sweeten this one in the telling.
This is the story I have and haven’t told you.
How could I? What beautiful princess, eyes half-full
sleeps with her gown around her head, no prince
of stories to bring her chocolate.
I couldn’t finish this story. The prince
leans on his sword beside an upturned mug.
Around the magic tower the roses grow
too thick for words, or for the prince
who has broken the only vow he didn’t swear:
no chocolate, no more stories.