Unabashed and
unafraid.
We have told them
a different story.
So they can stand
bright and shinning
between the stars.
We show them how
to pray in notes of algebra,
side-winged and eternal,
Rising,
with the music,
rising.
Skipping around the
fireworks’ fountains, and
sparklers dripping—
Energy and light,
They burn so
******* bright!
Yes, we are alike—
Arms spread like wings,
We dreamed the same,
firelight dreams,
We dreamed the same,
skipping dance dreams.
I turn my face away,
push them up, and up,
and into the night,
As high,
as I possibly can.
Go on, so they can
go on, and on,
So much brighter
than me.
This small grace
of dignity.
New and brave and lovely,
My daughters
of women.
We are the space
between our mothers,
Amid the calliope,
This is how we raise
our daughters,
To burn so ******* bright,
That it’s hard to
******* see.
Now you glow,
So you can go
on
rising.
And I will blow kisses up
into the dark cradle of the sky.
Dream big, my baby girls,
Dream big,
And skip before
you fly.
--Annie Appling 7/6/12
