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Daughter
Daughter
Written by Kelly Ann Wilson
Daughter
Who gets told
You look just like your mother
Who works so hard to be
The best parts of who she is
But has spent all of these years
Trying to figure out
Why she did
The worst thing she ever did
Daughter
Who comes from generations
Of farmers
Where the women keep the house
And make the supper
Who go to work as nurses and teachers
And half of you wants everything they had
And half of you sees
They might have had dreams
That were just a little bigger than that
Daughter
Who has had so many people fight for her
And so, she learned to go to war for others
But if she dares to stand up for herself
They tell her she’s doing it too loud
And they don’t ever give a thought
To what it took for her
To even believe
That she could speak up
And so, they miss another chance
To be proud
Of their daughter
And sometimes, it seems
No matter who you choose to be
You’re letting people down
And that the only choice you really have
Is if it’s them or yourself
But what if you are here right now
To step out of the line drawn by the past
And maybe, one day, when they say
It runs in the family
You’ll be where that started
Daughter
Who sees that time is going by
Who sees the grey in their hair
And age in their eyes
And how do you ever reconcile
That your heroes are human
Daughter
How do you put the guilt and regret down
From when you were younger then
And didn’t understand just yet
And you would do it all
So differently now
Oh, but you hope that maybe
They can see
All they gave you
That you’re gonna pass down
To your daughter
Daughter
Who gets told
You look just like your mother
Written October 23, 2022
© 2022 Kelly Ann Wilson
Comments
Lavender
Fri, 2023-08-04 14:15
Daughter
Hello, Kelly,
I'm sitting in a coffee shop, drinking a chai tea latte and wishing everyone here could read what I'm reading and feel what I'm feeling. I'm so honored to read such touching, powerful poetry. Thank you for this - from me, from my daughters, and my daughters' children.
Yes, to this...
L