GROWN-UP

Poetry by Alice Fanchiang

Was it you at the window all those nights

when I couldn’t sleep despite the

heaviness of my limbs and ache

in my muscles? My thoughts were as

serene as that mirrored lake, but

I was awake to hear a voice

Calling me into the woods, but

I grew up on those fairy tales and

I know what happens to curious girls,

clever girls, and the ones who go off the

beaten path. The thing is I’ve since walked

the thorny dark and run with wolves,

and it is not they I fear.

Why come for me after so long—

a girl now a woman who is wakeful and

restless and too tired to be

tempted out towards the frosted night and adventure?

I’ve forgotten how the wind felt beneath

my feet and how the stars blurred,

the way my breath would catch

on the crook of your smile

I have no more dreams for you

to devour, no more stories to spin.

The straw was never made gold and a thimble

can never be a kiss when all your careless

heart knows is freedom and a whim.

Honestly, I’m surprised you even

remember the girl I was

or who I am.