by Petra F. Bagnardi
The stories that made her were written mostly for boys.
Those boys –
were rascals who loathed school;
they were kids who got bullied;
they were poor orphans.
But they all grew into greatness.
Those boys hunted for lost treasures and rode silvery dragons.
Those boys kissed love for the first time,
then became writers and filmmakers.
She was not a boy and she was an adventurous reader,
raised to become whomever she desired.
She searched for stories about girls;
it was a perilous quest.
At first, she found princesses and damsels and a few teachers.
She craved for more.
She read of a girl who wanted to become a writer.
She took that dream and made it her own.
Other girls followed the same path –
bravely, stubbornly, fiercely.
The tales woven into the fabric of reality changed;
more women became artists of words and of images.
The canvas of society grew full with different tones and scents.
Unusual waves hummed and brewed.
She, who had been raised with tales of boys,
now told stories for girls and of girls.
She helped shape a better world.
***
Petra F. Bagnardi was short-listed in the Enfield Poets' Twentieth Anniversary Poetry Competition, and her work was featured in several literary journals including, Masque & Spectacle, Punk Noir Magazine, Poetica Review, Red Door Magazine, Drawn to the Light Press, Rabid Oak.