By the Numbers
by Mary Soon Lee
For every true prince triumphantly
reclaiming his birthright,
another prince will be buried
in the same fields
he worked all his life.
 
For every runaway boy
who joins the army
and carves a path to glory,
three others will find
only gangrene.
      
For every gold-haired maiden
who catches a king's eye,
four plainer women
would better match
the genius of his mind.
      
For every monster
tamed by kindness or a kiss,
five beasts will slay
their victims
without remorse.
 
For every stepmother
warped by jealousy,
a dozen women will help
another's child
as if it were their own.
 
For every sterling tale
of love's bright passion,
for every victory snatched
from the heart of evil,
for every quest that leads
to happy-ever-after,
a hundred stories falter
into compromise, truces struck,
promises broken.

(First published in the Magazine of Speculative Poetry)

 

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