La.Lit: A Literary Magazine | » When I have a daughter

When I have a daughter

Itisha Giri | February 23, 2015

When I have a daughter,

I will pinch her every day so her skin turns to rhino hide –

so she feels no pain when cornered by a stranger’s hand at play.

When I have a daughter,

I will lash her with my tongue –

so she is ready for it when someone else calls her names.

When I have a daughter,

I will cover her room with a thousand, wide-open cutout eyes –

so she is used to someone else’s stare.

When I have a daughter,

I will teach her to disappear into thin air, like a ninja –

so she is never is in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

When I have a daughter,

I will teach her of lust and of pleasure –

so she never feels any shame.

When I have a daughter,

I will bathe her in milk tinged with acid every day,

so when someone decides to attack her,

like a snake charmer, she is immune to the venom and its decay.

That’s alright! I, Untouchable, am just fine, Sir

Six Poems by Barbara Ras

Sneha says:

February 23, 2015 at 4:01 pm

I don’t know why they did it, but I will never believe that there might be a rational reason. It’s plain violence.

And this piece that you’ve written, well, it speaks my heart. Kudos to you.

Aradhana says:

February 24, 2015 at 3:10 am

Since I have a daughter, this resonates so well. Thank you.

Wayne Amtzis says:

February 25, 2015 at 2:25 am

When I am a daughter
in the next life or in the countless lives
to be lived,
may I be born to a mother
who is as painstakingly honest and clear-minded
as you are in this poem.
When I am a mother, as I have been
and will be again,
may I nurture all beings
as the earth does
even now as we disregard and fail to return
her love