Trapped for life in a sky-high tower, Tressa nourishes her hope for love in her art and writing; that’s before the day a waring prince, Tab, calls up for her to let down her hair; smitten at first sight, she abides, and he climbs it up into the tower; much to her dismay, he does not return until a year later, and the pattern continues. All the while she does not know why nor if he’ll ever return. During this time, she fends off a myriad of unwelcomed suitors determined to knock the tower to the ground to get their way with her. But will she last before he figures out the magic to make her his own?
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I
Ba-bump! Protected heart beats rapidly.
Oh no! What mischief have I done? she thinks.
I don’t feel prepared for this. Vapidly
I lived with comfort in this jinx.
If I end it now, I may never again
know why I stayed here, no bargain
hence makable between me and the devil…
She shudders, covering her mouth, fearful
she may stumble on the real answer.
“Sadly, I can’t let you in,” she calls out.
The man steps backwards, eyeing her hideout.
“My home isn’t accessible, sir.”
“What? Obviously I can't just climb more
there. Surely, you can open the door.”
II
“No!” Her blonde head shakes, curls bouncy. “You
don’t understand at all. If you trace
the perimeter of this tower and view
the height, you’ll realize why.” His face
squinches. “Then give me a moment because
seeing is believing. Trickery does
nothing but insult a man of my caliber.
It’s strange enough you’ve no neighbor,
but grimmer yet this tower, spiraled
and rare, unearthly really, has no
door.” He skips off, and she loses the beau
in her periphery; grasses, emerald
and long, sway smooth, wind carrying scent
upward to sooth her panic, the man so far decent.
III
She waits for uncountable minutes
before he emerges out of the sea
of green grasses, vibrant in his red jacket.
“Woah,” he says, waving, “what strange fantasy
have I uncovered? Before that bird
came to me, I dreamed heaven conjured
me up to a mission where I might
finally gain a satisfying fight
filled with both hate, love, struggle, and ease
to obtain glory in war and love
wherewith I might stand above
all who sought like dastardly sleaze
to ruin me and my kingdom in Rhymeland.”
The man clenches tight his pale, thick hands.
IV
“Ruin you? Already, I know you’re not
ordinary, and neither am I.
That’s the reason I remain unsought
in this tower that spirals to the sky.”
“So who was sick enough to leave off a door?”
He crosses his arms, expecting more
thwarting in his quest to discover
which rarified princess he did rover
a hundred miles to find. Her eyes roll.
“It honestly wasn’t my choice, nor that
of anyone who had my interest at
heart. If I say the name, a whole
lot of supernatural trouble
will start up and leave this thing in rubble.”
V
“Then you’ll be free! Say the offender’s name
three times and be olly, olly, oxen free.”
She narrows her eyes, disbelieving the same.
“You know better than that. I really
am stuck up here, and unless you grow
wings like my eagle, you can’t know
how great a view it brings looking about
the field to the forest and the sky thereout.”
“Wisely I can see they’ve darkly trapped
your mind to believe anything.
With me here, I’ll make it all swing
upside down, put the villain I trap
in chains, and let the world come
to you as you sightsee it in freedom.”
VI
She giggles loudly. “You’re a real man,
alright. No one ever dared defy fate
like that before me. I suppose I can
let you inside.” The man grabs his hair, irate.
“Suppose? You have to! I spent vast
sums of money and energy to at last
get here. Thus, I want to find it worthwhile.”
The woman, tall and thin, gives a warm smile.
“Wait while I devise the best ascension.”
She disappears from the sunny window,
glancing in the full mirror which does show
her the length of her hair, the extension
not ending at her shoulders, nor hips,
nor feet, braided pile on the ground with pink clips.
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