Graduate School

Tomato plant writhes,

Grounded, with no wire cage it

Begs mercy of bugs

A Better Way Out

When the Prince proposed to Cinderella
Shivers skated up her back.
The glass was cold, her toes were cold,
And there was the prince at her feet.
He said, "Marry me."
She said, "I'm somebody different already."
He said, "You could be queen."
She said, "It was not until this night
I discovered I already am."
He said, "Marry me."
She said, "All of my life I have not had a spine.
I cried at the roots of my mother's tree, which grew
Tall and powerful. I cried and wished, and was heard.

So after midnight tonight I came back home and cut down the tree.

With the same blade I opened myself, sliced from one set

Of lips to the other. I shook out the sawdust, the cotton,
The batting, the rags, and every soft thing that ever said

Yes when I meant No. In the empty places, I set branches

From my mother's tree. Then I glued my skin back with sap,
And you can see where it has seeped through my dress."

He said, "Did it hurt?"

She said, "Yes."

He said, "How can you stand it?"

She said, "I am a woman."

He said, "Marry me?"

She said, "I'll consider it. I did enjoy the dancing.

But first, go home. Take these soft things with you. Open

Yourself, if you can, and shake out every hard thing that

Ever heard Yes when someone said No. In the empty

Places, set these leaves and berries and flower buds and tufty caterpillars.

Then you and I will both be filled with things that grow."

He said, "How will I stand it?"

She said, "I don't know. But if you try, I will go dancing

With you again."

He said he would, and so he did.

Together they melted down the glass slippers and

Blew the glass into a vase for all the green things

That sprout from their heartseams.