Anomalous Princess

Tiana.

In the early years these five letters were a foreign language amongst strangers,

Making its way through the grimy streets of San Bernardino.

It would pass through ears and into brains

My younger self watching as they tried to make sense of what they heard.

They would ask follow-up questions:

Does it mean anything?

Which parent picked that?

How do you pronounce it?

Is that a common name?

Most people would view this as a prize,

Having a name nobody else was blessed with.

I didn’t.

It was exhausting.

I felt even more alienated than what my broken body

Had already bestowed upon me.

I was an anomaly.

Then suddenly, almost like magic,

I was a Princess from New Orleans.

I wouldn’t say I’m a Princess.

I don’t want to be but

That’s all they would ever call me.

It didn’t make much sense considering,

I’ve never had Prince Charming come and take my worries away.

Never had a horse and carriage.

Never been woken with a kiss sweet enough to bring me back to life.

Never tamed a beast.

Never had a glass slipper placed upon my foot or

Was magically able to walk so I can explore a whole new world.

I’ve experienced my fair-share of evil step sisters,

poisoned apples,

evil queens and like Mulan,

I was my own antagonist, losing sight of who I was in order to show people who I am.

But I didn’t have a Prince to save me from my demons.

I had me.

That’s it.

I am not fit to wear a crown,

On that we can agree.

But I no longer hold on to the name anomaly.

From this point on,

I AM JUST…ME.