Once he’d adored her,
‘daddy’s little girl’
he had said
while he swung her around
then she perched on his shoulders.
He’d tell everybody
about his angel.

Until she hit thirteen,
the devil she became.
His grip tightened,
knuckles now white
‘Just like your mother’
‘Don’t you dare talk back’
He’d taught her how to flinch

Shown her
the cost of silence.
and whilst
Mothers forgive,
Wives excuse,
daughters remember-
because he always remembered

He raised a daddy’s girl
who won’t bow now
a girl unfettered she became
whilst he, fettered by his past
mistook fear for power
but now that’s gone
and so is he

The most beautiful humans
struck by young fame
graced and haunted
by societies expectations.

Not too fat,
but not too skinny,
Not so flat
and always pretty.

Are they
mannequins in motion?
or people—
the industry doesn’t know

They throw
sticks and stones
turning them
to skin and bones

Their tears
could drown cities—
full of hunger
and pain—
but they stay silent.

Because they must.
“You must be seen,
and not heard.”
Just walk now,
and look pretty.

Goddesses bound by heels
bleeding behind blush ..
They are told to glow now
but one day they’ll burn

My vampire,
an old dreamer,
with eyes
dark
and tired—
yet still
alluring,
with irresistible mystery.

Your ebony hair,
wispy and wild,
holds secrets
I ache
to run my fingers
through.

Your sultry voice,
pensive,
tinged with solemnity,
makes me
lose myself.

A pale face—
yet lips,
full
of a red
I melt into.

Oh, my sweet
summer child,
with your golden smile
and that glimmer in your eyes.

I admire you,
maybe even envy
your blinding sun,
that hurts my tired eyes.

Your sun-kissed
picture frame face
exudes such joviality
but at a pace

With undulating curls
that unfurl around
your shimmering face,
yet still hold place.

How does it feel
to be God’s favorite?
I wonder,
how you smile with such grace.

Your laugh,
my sigh,
melt away
in the citrus and heat.
The sun beats down
on my back
in undulating waves.
I drink it in,
but it leaves an aftertaste—
unnervingly inevitable.
Soon it’ll be over.
It won’t last…
I know.

But before I leave,
I want to waste
my last days
getting lost
in the haze
of your sun-kissed
summer face

‘It’s not fair’
A petulant cry
Familiar echoes
of hopelessness

“Life’s not fair, Lex.
but I didn’t birth a failure.
You’re gonna win.
No. matter. what.”

Some start ahead —
born on better tracks —
but that doesn’t mean
you can’t outrun them.

You just gotta try a little harder
and you’ll get there…
‘Faster, yes, faster’
‘Nearly-‘

You might have to step
on a few toes
to pass the others
but one day, I know,
you’ll reach them,
The People
at the top.

“But I don’t wanna hurt others Mama”
“Sometimes baby, that’s
what winning takes”
“I’m sorry Lex”

Our start lines
aren’t equal,
some are in different races
But Lex,
you’re going
to win.

I hear things
that I can never quite discern.
I know there is a life beyond this
but is it better,
or worse?

What is that life like?
I wonder and marvel
at the things
my forming mind
conjures up.

I know I will see her face,
she has already told them about me.
I think she loves him-
but sometimes, late at night
I feel her tremble and sob…

I don’t know why
she does everything she does-
but she will be wonderful
because she is mine.
Although she cannot protect me from all.

So still I fear,
the coldness of the world
she shivers within-
that I know I shall fear,
so I lie still
and count my days.