okay, my friend wrote this, she is actually AMAZING . It’s really pure entertainment to read.
the garret girl
And I always listen politely
And make the expected comments
After all, the story brings people pleasure
And the truth brings pain to all who know it,
At least,
It tears me apart,
It was hardly a tower
More a little house with an attic
But to the mind of a little girl
That garret was the most wondrous site-
A place for all sorts of games,
That her story
Is set in a tower
She was such an ordinary child
I still wonder at the story-
And I am scarcely a cruel hag
For the sake of some herbs-
As her aunt
I took her in and raised her
Along with my own brood
After the early death of her mother
As I study it along
The history and the tale
I must say it was her father
The foolish fellow in the story
Who cut bargains with evil women
After stealing from their gardens
And the negligent father in the gaudy hat
Who left the girl-
Clothing, feeding, raising-
To me
When the crowds at the fair
Tugged at his ribbon-selling wallet
Oh and then he would come
And disappear with her for a day or two
While my motherly heart
Turned my grey head whiter;
And the lass would return
Festooned with ribbons
And dreamy eyed with the compliments and looks
From the customers
Her hair was pretty-
Not wondrous as the minstrels paint it
But pretty with the soft brown
Of a kitten I once found on my doorstep
And her father would sell his scraps
By winding the prettiest through
The soft locks
To milk big gold coins
From reluctant pockets
Every season after he left
I would reaffirm
My commitment
To refuse the next time;
I would look at the red rimmed eyes
Of the tender-hearted daughter
Who believed his promises every time
Promises to take his princess with him
Love her
Cherish her
And every time
He left the weeping eyes and took the clinking coins
My soul broke
At the thought of my wholesome little niece
At the ribbon market
Selling rags for her rascal of a father
With such love beaming from her eyes-
The warm love
That drawing the cold coins-
And my girl
Was seeing sights, meeting people, hearing language
I wanted her innocent little heart far away from
And so
One fine autumn
I think it was the year she turned sixteen
When he came along
With satchels bleeding a rainbow of ribbons
I stood at my threshold
And refused to let him pass
He blustered and bellowed
That I stole the only daughter of a loving father
Swore revenge
But I stood my solid ground
And my girth filled the doorway
So he left disappointed;
I thought the child was unaware
Of the scene
And returned to my hearth and spiced the stew
Without a thought for the girl in the garret
And as the moth flutters desperately to the lethal light
Her little fingers gathered the long sacred ribbons
She kissed each evening
And she braided them tightly
Bound them to the window frame
And climbed down-
Leaving everything I had even given her behind-
Tender little heart
Feeling she no longer deserved my love-
And I knew not a thing
Until I called for her aid
In the task she treasured-
Crushing the herb she loved-
Releasing the pungent odor
And perfuming the cottage
With the scent of rapunzel-
Oh- that scoundrel!
She was last seen having rejoined him
And the lout took her far from my embrace
Knowing that I would come with a vengeance
And rescue her
With the support of the neighbors
So he took her far
Bedecked with ribbons
And when he reappeared
Years later
With more ribbons
And no girl in tow
And a gleam of victory in his eye
I burned the braided ribbons
Consecrated by her kisses
In full confidence
That she would not return
And so I wonder at the tale
Of a princess captive in a tower
Long tresses
And a loving prince
Sung by festooned minstrels
When I think of my little niece
Hopefully safely ensconced
In the embrace of a decent grave
But probably wandering in dark alleys
On a loving aunt