Greetings fellow Steemians! Here is my 26th 5 minute freewrite. The prompt is: "before midnight".

I had to do something not-Strangeling again this evening, as the prompt would have been unworkable for the next part of the story. So during this brief intermission, we offer a fresh take on "Cinderella", from the prince's perspective, for your reading pleasure :D

(Full disclosure, this poem took me a LOT longer than 5 minutes to write. The whole first part was written in about 5 mins, but the last 6 or 7 stanzas... they took forfuckingever.)

Freewriting is a daily practice for most poets and fiction writers, designed to loosen up and get things flowing, like stretching before exercise. Visual artists, especially those who draw or paint from life (figures, landscapes, still lives, etc) do something similar in "gesture drawings". After reading several of @poetrybyjeremy's freewrite posts, I got excited to try these again. Many thanks to @mariannewest for hosting this daily freewrite!
@mariannewest/day-157-5-minute-freewrite-sunday-prompt-before-midnight

https://pixabay.com/en/sad-lonely-sadness-alone-mourning-2668488/

The Slipper

It's beautiful
Really
Crafted
By fairies
But why would I need
A slipper to find you?

I saw you run off
You can't have got far
On foot
Without your pumpkin car

And one shoe missing
The one in my hand
Glittering crystal
Understand:

It isn't the gown
I care about
It's the woman inside it
Who wore it out

To brave the soul-sucking
Monsters at court
(The kind who hunt people
For sport)

Just to dance with me
You could be clothed
In tatters and rags
Truth be told

I'd recognize you
Nevertheless
So paint your face
As pale as death

Paint your face
As if for war
Tart up like
A two bit whore

Smear your stepmother's
Blood on that dress
Just after you've slaughtered her
While it's still fresh

Then cut off your hair
And roll in the cinders
Thread a necklace
With stepsisters' fingers

Set fire to your
Childhood home
And live in the wild
Gnawing on bones

Drinking from streams
Sleeping in barns
Pilfering liquor
And smoking cigars

An outlaw for life
A ne'er do well
This prince will still find you
My angel in Hell

The criminals live
In the castle you see
The wickedest are
My family

You think you've had it rough?
Ha! Try sleeping
With wax in your ears
To muffle the screaming

As a tiny child
I learned to keep silent
To live with sadism
Cruelty, and violence

I was taught the art
Of hunting people
Of swallowing poison
And breathing evil

I've undressed you with
My eyes all night
I don't need this slipper
I know what you look like.

The Slipper - a stream of consciousness poem for Freewrite # 157 - before midnight

The Slipper