by Heather Dora
Dear beauty,
you can do soooo much better!!!! than beast!!!!
dear belle, you are lovely! & literate! & sweet!
& beast … well, he’s holding you prisoner!
& if you fall for him, i’m pretty sure that’s called stockholm syndrome!
That’s a little screwed up, beauty.
unfortunately, though, i get it.
see we are raised to believe there’s some sort of romance in our own captivity,
when i was 3
we put beauty & the beast decals all over my bedroom walls,
but i remember even then, he scared me.
i remember having the distinct impression
that beast was not really a nice guy,
He was more like… a jerk.
& belle, your only friends ended up being furniture
because beast had locked you away from everything.
that’s the way he wooed you.. through deprivation.
that sort of happily ever after terrified me back then
I mean he gave me nightmares
so i find it kind of ironic
that now, all i crave are things that sort of kill me.
how now, i inadvertently seek out abusive shit
And then guilt-trip myself over it.
and now, there’s a sort of masochism i can’t quite shake off
& according to the popularity of 50 shades of gray,
it’s somehow okay to crave a partner who will hurt you.
who does hurt you.
belle, when the back of his hand threw you across the room you did not try to escape,
belle, instead of forgiving him i wish you had decided to fly like the wind.
beauty, when his hand hit my nose hard enough to make it bleed
it took me 2 months to leave him, 3 years later & i still wonder if i deserved it.
beauty, please,
do not break yourself like a tiny teacup tossed away.
You are a power beyond words,
your strength is enough to make frozen roses bloom,
you can awaken a candelabra & teapot & armchair with just your presence.
So don’t just settle
for a hairy, mean monster who happens
to eventually let you into his neglected library
the one he banned you from in the beginning.
dear Belle, go for a someone who would readily share their books with you
remember,
It is not your job to nurse a monster back to his own humanity,
it is your job to get yourself free.
so beauty, belle, girl, please… go back to your books,
Read up on all the places you aren’t.
and ask yourself. Is he really what you need
for your own happily ever after?