The castle\u2019s gone. Just dust and stone.
The echoes live inside alone.
The monster fled to other tales
Where fear still howls and mercy fails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The queen now stands with steady grace,
No longer hiding in her face.
Her crown fits firm. Her smile is true.
The spell broke slow..but broke in two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I grew up. I learned at last
That stories saved me from the past.
That rubies weren\u2019t a blessing cast,
But truth disguised so I\u2019d outlast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, I let the child believe
In nameless beasts and spells conceived.
Because the tale kept him alive
Until his heart learned how to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So now I close the book I wrote\u2026
Not of the pain, but how we coped.
The queen stands tall. The monster ends.
And the child becomes the one who pens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The castle\u2019s gone. Just dust and stone.The echoes live inside alone.The monster fled to other talesWhere fear still howls and mercy fails. The queen now stands with steady grace,No longer hiding in her face.Her crown fits firm. Her smile is true.The spell broke slow..but broke in two. And I grew up. I learned at lastThat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":389,"featured_media":10044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_ppma_block_editor_authors":""},"categories":[7,915],"tags":[405,408],"ppma_author":[916],"class_list":["post-10043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-voices","category-poetry-corner","tag-cunyspskiosk","tag-student-life","has-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"\n