A Lebanese Cinderella of the 21st Century (c) Shadi Shidrawi 2015.

A Lebanese Cinderella of the 21st Century
(c) Shadi Shidrawi 2015.

Carving through a pumpkin, 
stuck in the kitchen with a sous chef,
Cila had a lot on her mind that day.

"Where's Prince Shoush?
he should be here by now!"

"Is the soup ready?" Cila asked again
"It's nearly done?" the sous chef replied.

Memory kicks in all of a sudden,
The dialogue becomes mechanical; 
All reflexes bounded with nostalgia. 

Cila remembers
Prince Shoush 
The glass slippers
Her step mother,
Her step sisters...
and how she pulled it through
with her intelligence, charm and beauty!

Yet,
The slippers were sold,
Along with the dress.
The Prince lost his kingdom,
And debt is piling up,
Like those pumpkins,
On the table 
Over there!