When I have a daughter,
she will be born into this world of black and white
she will have more pigment than her mother
but fall just short of her other
she will learn her name in 5 different languages before her first day of kindergarten,
repeat them over and over again in the car
just so she can say something about herself that makes her special
at 5 years old, she won’t know her mere existence is special
but I will remind her for every second she is breathing
she will learn beautiful before she learns weight,
she will learn perfect and know she fits the definition
If she ever uses the words fat or ugly,
she will put a dollar in the swear jar
at 5 years old, she will wonder why other kids don’t have a mommy and a momma
I will remind her that all families are different
& I will pray that she meets a boy with a daddy and a poppa
at 5 years old, she will wonder what is in the sky
I will tell her to look for herself
& when she asks what I believe in, I will tell her, “I believe in you.”
If she ever falls asleep with gum in her mouth and it ends up in her hair,
I will let her cut it how she likes.
I just want her to know she has control over her body.
& at 5 years old when the anger built up inside of her makes her spit out
the language of her grandfather,
I will hug her
I will tell her the best words I’ve ever heard in the accent of patois are
“Hello beautiful.”
recollect the countless summer days her grandfather has said those words to me
unknowing of the fact that I would marry his daughter
If she ever comes home with tear drop stained cheeks and says,
“I’m not sure if I like boys or girls”,
I will pull out my scrapbook to show her I did not always know who I was
whatever her heart tells her to do, I will love bravery down her spine
when a boy or maybe a girl breaks her heart,
I will take her to the beach
we will get so lost trying not to get caught in the tide,
she will forget her heartache
I will whisper her mother’s name in her ear
& when she asks what I said, I will tell her
“Love will find you”.
before she runs to cry herself to sleep at night,
I hope she is never too old to run into mommy’s arms
I will remind her of what I did when she was 5
and I will hold her like my mother never held me
I will pray that she never knows the feeling of hurting herself
I hope she never believes she is not good enough
whether she wants to be a dancer like her mother or a cheerleader like her other,
she will always be good enough
she needs to know that this world will knock you down
until you feel like nothing but when it does,
I pray that her knees are strong enough to get up again.
I will remind her that things will get worse before they get better..
that’s what my mom taught me
she will know of her grandmother’s strength but also
of her hardheadedness
I will start to panic when she begins to resemble my mother
but then I will take a step back and look in the mirror
I will remind her that she is never alone
and that Wonder Woman won’t always be there to save her
but I will buy her a cape and remind her of who she is
she is strong
she is brave
she is beautiful
she is my world
she is my daughter
& if a boy or a girl ever makes her feel like she is not special,
I will remind her that she knows her name
In 5 different languages.