Wednesday, May 5, 2010

"Daughter" (Revised a bit. Let me know!)

Daughter


And as they stretch, these woods
Masking and turning dull the sunshine
Leaking through gaps, thin and terrified.
She runs loud, trilling after the rabbits
Never catching them. My daughter
Laughs to be here; young and living

She reminds me to breathe, live
To build with sand and water and wood
To appreciate Earth’s sons and daughters
Her moss and rain and rocks and sunshine
Her bumblebees, lizards and rabbits
To breathe, and be not terrified

Of this truth which is terrifying
What it truly means to live
How four year olds name rabbits
Moving in-between vast suns
In places damp, cool and wooded
This pretty one, she is our daughter

When he calls her, “Daughter.”
We know the lie, and are terrified
Looking forever away from the sun
Pretending to be again and alive
Ignoring the soft, welcoming woods
Where I take her to see the rabbits

Truth skitters and hides. It rabbits.
All our focus on her, my daughter.
I want to weep truth at the woods
Crouch and tell her. To terrify
Hurt her in her new, fragile life
When all she knows is sunshine

I will not eclipse her glorious sun
She may chase every rabbit
And never catch them, all her life
I won’t stop my beautiful daughter
I will stay quiet and terrified
Hiding, unlike her, deep in my woods

These woods have always terrified me, Daughter
Along with the sun, these rabbits mean my life

2 comments:

  1. Hey, Kev...
    I like this a lot...

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  2. Kev, this sestina is SO awesome. I absolutely love the words you've used for the ends of your lines. You've done a good job of using them innovatively with each new stanza. :)

    The last two stanzas are my very favorite.

    ReplyDelete