The Prince came calling
But Cinderella
Had decided
To go barefoot
And run through a pumpkin patch
Looking for a new carriage
The Prince came calling
And the mice mistook him
For a mouse-catcher
And hid under the stairs
While he asked the evil stepmother
Over and over again
Where his princess was
‘Princess,’ she said, ‘There’s no princess here’
Of course a princess
Is not a princess
Until a prince
Comes looking
Right?
But Cinderella was quite sure
That prince or no prince
She was a princess
Because she made a crown
Out of turnip greens
And an evening gown
Out of corn stalks
And when her fairy godmother appeared
To ask what she was doing
Cinderella replied
That it was too nice a day
To spend inside
Waiting for a prince to arrive
The evil stepsisters
Heard birds in the sky
And fearing the fate of their eyes
They ran to the coachmen
Who came with the prince
And within an inch of a moment
The coachmen fell
For the evil stepsisters
Who were actually quite nice
If you didn’t look twice
And it was decided
That they would get married
And move into the castle
Alongside the coachmen
And their prince
The evil stepmother
Went out to the field
To let Cinderella know
That they would be
A much more happy family
Because a house with no stepsisters
And a few good mice
Is very nice
For living in
The Prince came calling
But with Cinderella and her stepmother
Out near the beans
And his coachmen in love
With the two angry means
It seemed as though
The call was no ball
But a fall
A fail
A pail with cinder-water in it
And no matter how you spin it
It’s hard to weave a fairy tale
From a cinder-filled, pitiful
Paltry, poor pail
The Prince sat down
Next to the mice
Who had come out
When they realized
He was (mostly) nice
And he waited to see
Who would come
Make him happy
Since surely
He couldn’t return
To the castle
Regardless of the hassle
Without an ever after?
Cinderella entered the house
Put on the glass shoes
And (kindly) dismissed the mouse
But the other stayed put
To see how it would end
It seemed unlikely that the Prince
Would become a new friend
But stories can surprise you
As I’m sure this one has done
Is it better than the old one?
Well, it has a princess with a turnip crown
And love spread out all over town
And a stepmother trapped in a vegetable maze
Did I tell you of that?
We’ll save it for another day or days
Because we’re running out of time
And what you need to know
Is that the Prince came calling
Every day
But Cinderella couldn’t seem
To ask him
To stay
For she was who she was
And who she was
Was a Princess
Though who can say of what?
And does it really matter?
I would argue
It does not
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