You're allowed
To take a life instead of taking responsibility
To punish the innocent
Silence the unheard
To press your palm over the yawning rosebud mouth
To leave your child in a dumpster, cold and crying among the banana peels and raw chicken and cat litter and candy wrappers and ash and cooking oil and tax forms and condoms
You're allowed
To hide the secret of your sin, forever haunted by her perfect little fingernails
To run from the truth written plainly in her indigo eyes
To deny her in favor of your own convenience
To claim that because you're just not ready
You should just [Ctrl+Z] delete that lump of tissue
Well, it really is your choice, isnt it?
And as you close your eyes tonight
When your head hits the pillow
I hope you see her face in the darkness
The cottoncandy wisps of her perfect black hair
I hope you dream of your sweet baby girl
And how you'll never know her voice
How she never heard "I love you sweetie, sleep tight"
And how she never got to ask you why
I hope you can sleep
With that hanging over your heart
She never got to dance, you know
She never got to feel the sun
She never scraped her knee
Lost a tooth
Cried
Hated
Never was bullied
Or learned to swim
But with your every breath
You'll remember that she never got to have what you do:


the choice.