Didn’t I Wish

Didn’t I wish

for a daughter

 

her dresses

and hair

 

her longings

her long

 

and slender

legs just like

 

my husband’s

my child

 

writes an ode

to legs

 

how they run

and dig

 

though most legs

do not dig

 

my child’s

view slants

 

This child

with slanted

 

gifts and shifts

Didn’t I dream

 

of a girl

unbidden

 

not like this

I feel like a girl

 

my child says I

dreamed a girl

 

just a baby

a girl inside

 

a box delivered

to my doorstep

 

I feel just like

a girl

 

inside a girl

all full of sparklers

 

and gravity

How might I turn

 

toward

my blessings


Also by Emily Pérez

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