Fairy Tale Revisited

Prompt for: April 29, 2016 (Ren)
Subject or Theme: Dreams (real ones, not the ones you have at night)
Word(s) to Include: challenge, murky, sun (or any derivatives of these words)
Forbidden Word(s): dream, night, scary, awake (or any derivatives, compound or hyphenations of these words)
Additional Parameters: Minimum 24 lines.
Remember, do not use forbidden words ANYWHERE, including title or the brief description.



Once, to regain lost love buried beneath the murky depths
of parenting differences, midnight shifts, and forty mile distances.
Once, to find that missing part of me buried in the dirt beneath another's leaden foot
that hadn't seen the sun in months, let alone be able to shine.
Once, to keep up (perhaps even win) that supposed race between
me and high school friends who'd (not intentionally) left me eating their dust
while they went on to multi-degree-ed lifestyles, high paying jobs and perfect spouses.
Once, to find my place once I learned that despite growing up the princess in the castle
atop the mountain, that there were no knights in shining armor, no fairy tale endings
and that magic was not as real as I once thought.

Then life curled around as it eventually does, must.

Once I stopped bemoaning the lost, I found what was only misplaced and realized
that now it was appreciated far more than before.
Once I started looking up, I learned that the only thing
holding me down was me.
Once I made the choice to challenge myself and despite three children,
return to finish up my degree, I discovered that my focus had shifted,
my priorities had rearranged and I was free to go after what I wanted;
not what I thought I should or what others deemed appropriate.
Once I figured out that being a princess was more than fancy dresses
and being regal was far more about how I handled my life, and
Once I rose up to reality and saw that dented armor meant survival,
that fairy tale endings were ones I would write myself and that
magic was, indeed, real did I ultimately discern
that most anything was possible if only I took my scattered wishes
and made them become reality.

Life is now curled up, warming itself by the home hearth.

Hopes for retrieved love bore fruit when I least expected it to,
or perhaps, was most open to it.
Determination and tears of letting go washed the mud from my feet,
and the dirt from my heart.
Ambition to surmount perceived obstacles opened new paths
for me to follow,untried byways leaving frost behind to welcome growth.
Aspirations of writing, of being published morphed into being able to
do, not only for myself, but for others and the joys multiplied.
Contemplations continue, now as part of a team. Bucket lists float
in pails of crystal spring waters, fueled by desires and not,
as once upon a time, desperation.