Daughter
One day I'll give birth to a tiny baby daughter
And when she's born she'll scream
And I'll tell her to never stop
I will kiss her before I lay her down at night
And will tell her a story so she know
How it is and how it must be for her to survive
I'll tell her to set things on fire
And keep them burning
I'll teach her that fire will not consume her
That she must use it
I'll tell her that people must earn the right
to use her nickname
That forced intimacy is an ugly thing
I'll help her to see that she will not find god
or salvationin a dark brick building
Built by dead men
I'll make sure she always carries a pen
So she can take down the evidence
If she has no paper, I'll teach her to
write everything down with her tounge
Write on her thighs
I'll make her keep reinventing herself and run fast
I'll teach her to write down her manifestos
on cocktail napkins
I'll say she should make men lick her ambition
I'll make her understand that she's worth more
with her clothes on
I'll teach her to talk hard
I'll tell her that when the words come to fast
and she has no use for a pen
That she must quit her job
Run out of the house in her bathrobe
Leave the door open
I'll teach her to follow the words
They will try to make her stay
Comfort her, let her sleep
Bathe her in a television blue glow
I will cut her hair, tell her to light the house on fire
Kill the kittens
When nothing is there, nothin will keep her
And she is not to be kept
I'll say that everything she has done, seen, spoken
Has brought her to the here she is now
This is no time for tenderness
No time to stand, waiting for them to find her
There are nations, within her skin
Queendoms come without keys you can carry
I'll teach her that she has an army inside of her
That can save her life
I'll teach her to be whole, to be holy
I'll teach her how to live
To be so much that she doesn't even need me anymore
I'll teach her to go quickly and never turn back
Things get boken fast here
I will make her stronger than I ever was
Turned at twenty she'll break into bites of star
and throw herself against the sky
I will not let them destroy her life
the way they destroyed mine
I'll tell her to never forget what they did to you
And never let them know you remember
Never forget what they did to you
And never let them know you remember
Never forget what they did to you
And never let them know you remember.
