Fairy Tales #6

The penultimate fairy tale poem. This one was inspired by a tv commercial for xm radio of all things. The commercial featured a singer I'd never heard of, and hauntingly awesome piano playing. I misunderstood the words she was singing, though, I thought I understood them perfectly. I eventually found the song by youtube sleuthing and it was "Better" by Regina Spektor. By then I was a little familiar with Regina's style and it didn't surprise me she was the one I was looking for. I looked up the real words and my version wasn't even close. I decided I didn't care. I liked her words, I liked my words. So I started writing a full version of my lyrics which turned out to be from the point of view of sleeping beauty. The first lines of the real lyrics are "If I kiss you where it's sore, will you feel better, better, better, will you feel anything at all?" I had heard the first words as "If I kiss you, will I wake?" Which didn't make sense, but it got me started all the same. If you want to hear "Better" it is on my playlist third from the top. My version starts out fitting into the meter of the song, but eventually strays since I wasn't really trying to stick to the song.

If You Kiss Me

If you kiss me will I wake?
If you kiss me, will I find
that you love me
wholly,
completely,
and fully,
Will you even love me at all?

High up in this tower
where dreams are only dreams
and the thunder snores around me
sound like roaring ocean waves.

If I kiss you will I find
that you only wanted a prize;
and never really wanted more than
a trophy,
a princess,
and power;
and no love at all.

So what does it take to love
someone you've never met before?
Would it be better
to have known you forever
or will one kiss be enough?

If you kiss me will I cry,
from the wound of years alone.
Will you forgive me for tears of joy
mixed with spindle's pain.

If you kiss me will I wake
from this endless empty dream?
Will real life be better
than I could imagine
and will I ever know?

August 2007