My Daughter

You’re much prettier
with your hair down,
when you don’t make
that face, when you tilt
your head to the left,
like a tea pot, pouring
a puddle on the floor.
Mini attacks disguised
as compliments.
How will she react
when she discovers
what it really means
to be a girl?
Come on sweetie,
they’ll say.
What’s there
to frown about?

Provenance: Submission

Christina Perez Brubaker is a fellow recipient at Chapman University, in Southern California, where she is pursuing an MFA. She lives and writes in Costa Mesa and teaches creative writing at Orange County School of the Arts.

“Amelia Rain” by audi_insperation is licensed under CC BY 2.0.