My Story Is Not Done

Seanan McGuire

My Story Is Not Done

Copyright ©2009 by Seanan McGuire, All Rights Reserved
Used by permission

I was born into a fairy tale,
Cinderella's dust-bin daughter.
Seemed like I was meant to fail,
Turning wine back into water,

Mama's slippers shattered when
She turned around to run,
But I never thought that mattered and
My story is not done.

So I told her, mama, make my bed,
Make it up both long and narrow,
Tell the cynics that I'm dead,
Let me hitchhike through the yarrow,

Ghost-girl on the median,
With a thumb cocked to the sun,
But I'd rather be the banshee and
My story is not done.

It's not done until it's told,
It's not told until it's written,
If I'm brave and if I'm bold,
I can challenge what's forbidden,
For nobody gets to tell me
That I'll never be the one.
When they ask you what befell me,
Say my story is not done.

Left my family in a storybook;
Tell my sisters that I'm sorry.
I never dared a backwards look,
On the path to purgatory,

And I can't say that I'm sorry for
The things I've left undone.
I've been on the road to glory, for
My story is not done.

I have wandered through the carnival,
Seen the secret shadows dancing,
Counted feathers where they'd fall,
Taken chances not worth chancing,

I have counted out my jackdaws and
My magpies one by one,
I have always been an outlaw, and
My story is not done.

It's not done until it's told,
It's not told until it's written,
If I'm brave and if I'm bold,
I can challenge what's forbidden,
For nobody gets to tell me
That I'll never be the one.
When they ask you what befell me,
Say my story is not done.

So come on all you fox-girls and you ghost-girls
And you pretty pirates,
Come on all you wild girls and you lost girls
And you shrinking violets,
Come and pay the piper, say you'll leave their war unwon.
It's only words on paper, and your story is not done.

I was born into a fairy tale,
Never tried to find Prince Charming.
Had a different ship to sail,
Didn't find the waves alarming,

For nobody gets to tell me
If I've lost of if I've won.
When they ask you what befell me,
Say my story is not done.