Reason 8 on my 17th birthday card:

"we used to be princesses in closets that were trees."

I remember that closet very distinctly,

The one in the room you shared with your sister, when

She was younger than we are now,

And I remember the feeling of the closet door tracks and the linoleum floor- cold,

And the old costumes hanging in that closet will never seem less extravagant.

You were rubies and I was emeralds, and my favorite color is still green today,

And we looked upon our fantastic rendezvous with princes as practice for

A future wrought with romance and

We had ourselves enrolled in charm school,

Just so we could rebel,

And we used magic in your kingdom-bedroom and wore

Ballgowns three sizes too big in my

Apartment three sizes too small.

And we will always be princesses, dripping with rubies and emeralds

-jewels that have more value as an idea to a child-

having increasingly illicit meetings with lovers

in closets that were trees.

We could see through each other's eyes

A world we knew to be false but never believed any less in.