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May 2015 Moms
ilovejosh23
member
“Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be.”
ilovejosh23
member
Ok so im sure being extra hormonal isn't helping me not ugly cry at work but this poem is so awesome! I know I have seen some people follow "a mighty girl" and on facebook they posted this poem. Its such a great reminder for our future generation of girls and to remember to empower them!
For My Daughter
By Sarah McMane
“Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be.” – Clementine Paddleford
Never play the princess when you can
be the queen:
rule the kingdom, swing a scepter,
wear a crown of gold.
Don’t dance in glass slippers,
crystal carving up your toes --
be a barefoot Amazon instead,
for those shoes will surely shatter on your feet.
Never wear only pink
when you can strut in crimson red,
sweat in heather grey, and
shimmer in sky blue,
claim the golden sun upon your hair.
Colors are for everyone,
boys and girls, men and women --
be a verdant garden, the landscape of Versailles,
not a pale primrose blindly pushed aside.
Chase green dragons and one-eyed zombies,
fierce and fiery toothy monsters,
not merely lazy butterflies,
sweet and slow on summer days.
For you can tame the most brutish beasts
with your wily wits and charm,
and lizard scales feel just as smooth
as gossamer insect wings.
Tramp muddy through the house in
a purple tutu and cowboy boots.
Have a tea party in your overalls.
Build a fort of birch branches,
a zoo of Legos, a rocketship of
Queen Anne chairs and coverlets,
first stop on the moon.
Dream of dinosaurs and baby dolls,
bold brontosaurus and bookish Belle,
not Barbie on the runway or
Disney damsels in distress --
you are much too strong to play
the simpering waif.
Don a baseball cap, dance with Daddy,
paint your toenails, climb a cottonwood.
Learn to speak with both your mind and heart.
For the ground beneath will hold you, dear --
know that you are free.
And never grow a wishbone, daughter,
where your backbone ought to be.
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Re: “Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be.”
My BFP Chart
Oh if you wouldn't mind sharing I would LOVE to hear your poem! I love stuff like thisDear Daughter,
Remember when I told you how life was? How easy yet difficult yet daily stressful…challenging.
You will feel like giving up and in and out, but don’t.
There are things-- that need taught. Soaked in and bathed thoroughly through you so you can live.
Not just live but live a life of living and giving, but also standing.
You were born with two feet. Use them.
Stand.
Statue like and unbroken from the outside but ever crumpling inside.
Watch.
When you move those feet, move them in the correct direction.
Away.
From the man who may hurt you in ways you never thought a body could endure. Ways—a mind could never recoup from without deep meditation and mediation and hesitation while he stands. Stands where you stood trying to break. Cut. Hollow out that girl you still have hiding within you.
Stop.
Walk away and to the other side of the street that has salt gingerly poured on it.
No slipping.
Into the night clubs and fight clubs behind the scenes of corporate America and one drink too many.
Caution.
Your ever changing face will turn from precious and pure to grown and sexy but always look both ways before crossing that street.
Ready.
For anything and everything and anything and everything you thought life might be until you turn that corner and find out otherwise.
Look.
That boy pushed you down on the playground to not only make a sound about his personal victory…no…but to try and show you that he is and always will be in charge of your.
Thoughts.
Racing through your mind and unwinding the woman that is found within that tiny haystack. Longing to be heard. Appreciated. Accepted. Loved.
You.
May not realize it now but one day…one day you will see your reflection and know why you were put here on this earth.
People.
See that you will be tall and smart and sassy and standing in shades of purple, but I…I can only protect you from afar
in this here rocking chair. The chair I used to hold you in, smell your side swept baby hair in, bringing you close in.
Swaddle.
My love pours like that salt on the sidewalk to protect you, stands on that corner to watch out for you, races through your mind so you remember what I told you…but only you. Can stand. On your own.
My BFP Chart
My BFP Chart