Your Daughter by John Grey

Your Daughter by John Grey

She is your creation.

Not just the long blonde hair,

the bright blue eyes,

but the flared pink dress,

the white-button shoes.

Family genes may be inevitable

but the haute-couture for seven year olds

is strictly from your fashion playbook.

That’s why, when you take her out

for the world to see,

it’s like unwrapping a box

from an expensive toy store,

extracting a prize-winning doll

to the oohs and aahs of those assembled.

In the public square,

your daughter has no say

in who she is.

But, behind the scenes,

her thoughts are like jail breakers,

digging tunnels,

assessing the surrounding walls

for the possibility of scrambling over them.

Someday, she will dress for comfort,

in her own taste, for the amusement

of herself and whoever she chooses to impress.

But, for now,

she’s a work of art

with your name written clearly

within the frame.

She’s the perfect daughter,

the perfect child.

How perfect that must make you.

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in New World Writing, North Dakota Quarterly and Lost Pilots. Latest books, ”Between Two Fires”, “Covert” and “Memory Outside The Head” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in California Quarterly, Seventh Quarry, La Presa and Doubly Mad.