And when the clock tolls twelve…

By Bridgitte Thao, 17, Minnesota

I’m a princess, bejeweled and 

dressed in the finest silks. Still, 

blood stains my fine evening gloves.

Dong dong.

Mirror shards slice into my skin.

I pick them up, helplessly bleeding

with every piece retrieved. 

Dong dong.

The gaze that meets mine in those

fractures echo the hauntings of the

past: eternal, aching lovelessness. 

Dong dong.

And yet, those brown eyes aren’t 

mine. Those heavy lids don’t belong

to me, nor the dull stare. No.

Dong dong.

No. Those eyes are yours. You’ve 

cursed your glassware to project

your troubles onto me.

Dong dong.

I cannot let you cut me, carve me up and harden me

to drop carelessly for my descendants

to pick up. Your curse ends here.

Dong dong.

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In the story of Cinderella, the orphan-turned-princess battles a cruel stepmother and crippling poverty with a glass slipper that perfectly fits her foot. Although readers are familiar with her story’s ending, we’re left wondering how she’s coping with the pains of the past. After all, “happily ever after” doesn’t necessarily cancel out the wickedness that began with “once upon a time.” Without proper healing, these internalized traumas have the potential to manifest in later generations (although I doubt Cinderella would lash out at her kids… maybe the mice). While the glass in Cinderella’s story presents itself as a slipper that seals her joyous future, the glass in my piece also acts as a final marker of the past. In looking at my troubled reflection, I realize I am already whole. In breaking the mirror, I release myself from the phantoms of the past. A lot of my pieces have centered around addressing generational trauma–especially from a refugee background–but never once did I think to write from a point-of-view where I am already “whole” and human. Typically, my works tend to address trauma by “building” a sense of self from “zero” ground. Something new I tried in this piece was to recognize that I was and am already a person, not just an amalgamation of suppressed emotions and desires. I am a princess, worthy of adventure and happiness, and I’m ready to rid myself of the trauma phantoms that linger in my reflection.

Instagram: @theebridgitte

Photo by GVZ 42