The princess saves herself
in this one

I found Amanda Lovelace’s The Princess Saves Herself in This One at a time when I was beginning to understand poetry differently. Poetry didn’t have to be something I studied, decoded, or explained. It could be something immediate–something that named an experience before you had found the language to name it yourself.

The title alone offered a lesson I needed: You do not have to wait to be rescued.

When I look again at The Princess Saves Herself in This One, I think its greatest influence on me is not simply its message of empowerment. It showed me what can happen when women take familiar stories and ask who they were written to serve. Sometimes finding your voice begins by questioning the story you were given.

That idea has followed me into my own poetry. I find myself returning to the stories, expectations, and ordinary language women inherit—not always to reject them, but to look at them closely enough to decide what deserves to stay.

Maybe we don't need entirely new stories.

Maybe we just need to realize we're allowed to change the ending.