Paperback letdown

Another page is ripped away from a book I clung to for far too long
a fairytale story of a girl who had neverending quests to fulfill
a string of dragons to slay for everyone who crossed her path
and still the demands of being a princess beckoning
to be fair, true, and vulnerable to love's twisting illusions

with blood still dripping from her trying-to-hide hands

But how can one be both savior and damsel in distress?
daisy-chains braided into my hair as a child were not the uniform of a lifetime
even though I think I clung to the significance of those wispy, wild flowers
enough to paint them into my skin around a name not truly my own
perhaps they were my attempts to re-write the plot twists
or at least give this girl a different ending

It is obvious you never knew me
not for a second
even though I cracked open my ribs
and let my heart fall through
exposing every secret, every flaw, every god-damn part of who I am
or was

I never wanted you to rescue me
the only one who can save me

is me