At the lake, she stood,

Staring into the deeps.

At the fish, at the frogs,

At her rippling reflection.

"Why?" she whispered.

"Why is the world so blind?"

She heard footsteps.

She refused to turn.

It was a prince.

He had come to claim her.

To ensnare her.

To make her his property.

He replied, "How?"

"How is the world so blind?

Is it the world, or is it you

Who is blind?

May I be your guiding light

Fair Maiden?"

She turned at last.

Her face was average.

The prince frowned.

"Your face shall be fixed

To be the most beautiful

If you become mine."

The princess whispered,

"I live in a world.

A world where men

Like you

Believe that women

Like me

Need to be owned.

To be fixed.

To be controlled.

To be confined.

To be enslaved.

To be destroyed.

That is how I know

That the world is blind."

She then turned back to the pond

And stared yet again.

At the ripples.

At the fish.

At the frogs.

At the deeps.

At herself.