when my daughter was a toddler
I remember pushing her 
through a crowded store
in her stroller as she sang
Someday My Prince Will Come
at the top of her lungs
the ladies around us chuckled
at her cute, little voice
on that day I thought it was adorable
but now it turns my stomach
to ashes

my baby girl loved Snow White
the one who was taken to the woods to die
but found refuge in a cottage 
with a group of pickaxe wielding dwarfs
who expected her to cook and clean for them
she bit into that poison apple
and fell into a deep, venomous sleep
where the only thing that could save her
was a kiss by a prince who did not know her at all
yet all were happy as he whisked her off
to live in his castle

little girls, hear me out
burn that castle to the ground
you can ride your own horse
hunt with your own arrows
throw the apple into that evil woman’s face
and live your own magical life
you do not need to be saved
by a man
even if he is 
a god-damned 
prince