If I should have a daughter, instead of mom
She’s gonna call me point B
Because that way she knows that no matter what happens
At least she can always find her way to me
And I’m going to paint solar systems on the backs of her hands
So she has to learn the entire universe
Before she can say, “Oh, I know that like the back of my hand.”
And she’s gonna learn
That this life will hit you hard in the face
Wait for you to get back up just
So it can kick you in the stomach.
But getting the wind knocked out of you
Is the only way to remind your lungs
How much they like the taste of air.
There is hurt here
That cannot be fixed by apologies or romantic poetry
So the first time she realizes, that wonder woman isn’t coming,
I’ll make sure she knows
She doesn’t have to wear the cape all by herself.
Because no matter how wide you stretch your fingers,
Your hand will always be too small
To catch all the pain you want to heal.
Believe me I’ve tried “And baby, “I’ll tell her,
Don’t keep your nose up in the air like that.
I know that trick: I’ve done it a million times
You’re just smelling for smoke
So you can follow the trail back to a burning house,
So you can find the boy who lost everything in the fire
To see if you can save him.
Or else find the boy who lit the fire in the first place,
To see if you can change him.”
But I know she will anyway,
So instead ill always keep an extra supply of
Chocolate and rain boots nearby,
Because there is no heartbreak that chocolate can’t fix.
Okay there are a few heartbreaks that chocolates can’t fix
But that’s what the rain boots are for.
Because rain will wash away everything, if you let it.
I want her to look at the world
Through the underside of a glass- bottom boat,
To look through a microscope at the galaxies that exist
On the pinpoint of a human mind,
Because that’s the way my mom taught me.
That there’ll be days like this.
There’ll be days like this, my momma said.
When you open your hands to catch
And wind up only with blisters and bruises;
When you step out of the phone booth and try to fly
And the very people you wanna save
Are the ones standing on your cape;
When your boots will fill with rain,
And you’ll be up to your knees in disappointment.
And those are the very days you have
All the more reason to say thank you
Because there is nothing more beautiful
Than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline,
No matter how many times it’s swept away
You will put the wind in winsome, lose some.
You will put the star in starting over and over.
And no matter how many land mines erupt in a minute,
Be sure your mind lands on the beauty of this funny place called life.
And yes, on a scale from one to over-trusting,
I am pretty damn naïve,
But I want her to know that this world is made out of sugar.
It can crumble so easily,
But don’t be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it.
“Baby,” I’ll tell her, “remember, your momma is a warrior,
and your poppa is a warrior,
and you are the girl with small hands and big eyes
who never stops asking for more.”
Remember the good things come in threes and so do bad things.
And always apologize when you’ve done something wrong.
But don’t you ever apologize,
For the way your eyes refuse to stop shining.
Your voice is small, but don’t ever stop singing.
And when they finally hand you heartache,
When they slip war and hatred under your door
And offer you handouts on street-corners
Of cynicism and defeat,
you tell them that they ought to meet your mother and father.
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Sadati Okeyo 