The other woman aka Stepmother

Cinderella hates me and rightly so
I would too if some woman
came back home with my father
so recent after my mother’s passing

so why did I do it, you ask
out of desperation, he seemed nice
that or marry the brute
who’s been pestering my father

for my hand, giving my family no peace
I had to do it for them, and for me
and why were you so cruel
when you should have been kind?

I felt like the other woman
I was becoming the Stepmother
I know that’s no excuse but Cinderella
wasn’t cutting me any slack
she would snap at the slightest thing
I felt like I was doing everything wrong

and her father, my husband
he was sweet but he went away
not long after and never came back
we both lost him too soon–
I think that’s when I snapped

Photo Credit: russelljsmith Flickr via Compfight cc

Esther Vincent

Esther Vincent is a poet from Singapore, who teaches Literary Arts and Literature at the School of the Arts, Singapore. She writes poetry that resonates on both personal and political levels and believes that poetry should empower, not exclude, engage, not evade. She was co-editor of a poetry anthology, Little Things (2013) and the accompanying Teacher's Guide (2013). Her poems have been published in New Asian Writing (Nov2016), Unhomed (2016), Sound of Mind (2014), LIVEPress Pilot (2014-2015), Little Things (2013), Ceriph #4 (2011) and in Message in a Bottle Poetry Magazine Editorial 13. Her poem, "Excuse me, what is your race?" was translated into Russian in To Go To S'pore (2013) by Kirill Cherbitski. She is currently working on a new collection of poems.

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Esther Vincent is a poet from Singapore, who teaches Literary Arts and Literature at the School of the Arts, Singapore. She writes poetry that resonates on both personal and political levels and believes that poetry should empower, not exclude, engage, not evade. She was co-editor of a poetry anthology, Little Things (2013) and the accompanying Teacher's Guide (2013). Her poems have been published in New Asian Writing (Nov2016), Unhomed (2016), Sound of Mind (2014), LIVEPress Pilot (2014-2015), Little Things (2013), Ceriph #4 (2011) and in Message in a Bottle Poetry Magazine Editorial 13. Her poem, "Excuse me, what is your race?" was translated into Russian in To Go To S'pore (2013) by Kirill Cherbitski. She is currently working on a new collection of poems.

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