For everyone who tried on the slipper before Cinderella

after Anis Mojgani and Audre Lorde

For those making tea in the soft light of Saturday morning
in the peaceful kitchen
in the cool house
For those with shrunken hearts still trying to love
For those with large hearts trying to forget
For those with terrors they cannot name
upset stomachs and too tight pants
For those who get cut off in traffic
For those who spend all day making an elaborate meal
that turns out mediocre
For those who could not leave
even when they knew they had to
For those who never win the lottery
or become famous
For those getting groceries on Friday nights

There is something you know
about living
that you guard with your life
your one fragile, wonderful life
wonder, as in, awe,
as in, I had no idea I would be here now.

For those who make plans and those who don’t
For those driving across the country to a highway that knows them
For the routes we take in the dark, trusting
For the roads for the woods for the dead humming in prayer
For an old record and a strong sun
For teeth bared to the wind
a pulse in the chest
a body making love to itself

There is every reason to hate it here
There is a list of things making it bearable:
your friend’s shoulder Texas barbecue a new book
a loud song a strong song a highway that knows you
sweet tea an orange cat a helping hand
an unforgettable dinner

a laugh that escapes you and deflates you
like a pink balloon left soft with room
for goodness to take hold

For those who have looked in the mirror and begged
For those with weak knees and an attitude
For those called “sensitive” or “too much”
For those not called enough
For the times you needed and went without
For the photo of you as a child
quietly icing cupcakes your hair a crackling thunderstorm

Love is coming.
It’s on its way.
Look—

Credit

Copyright © 2022 by Ariana Brown. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on October 14, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.

About this Poem

“The title of this poem is a line from a poem by Izzie Miller called ‘Praise for Love Stories with Happy Endings,’ used here with her consent. Izzie was a student in a teen poetry workshop I taught in summer 2022, a fantastic writer with a talent for observation. When I read this line in her poem, I was struck immediately by her appreciation for loss, loneliness, and failure. The assignment was to write a praise poem after the ones that appear in JP Howard’s book Say/Mirror. The task resulted in Izzie’s layered ode to the pursuit of love, even if one’s efforts were unsuccessful. When I read Izzie’s poem, I thought of my recent unsuccessful efforts at love. I’d never considered the unsuccessful actors in Cinderella’s story, but Izzie’s poem asked me to connect with them, to deeply consider their stories, too. In writing this poem, I also heard echoes of Anis Mojgani’s ‘Shake the Dust’ and Audre Lorde’s ‘Litany for Survival,’ poems to which I am gratefully indebted.”
—Ariana Brown