Dear Daddy

 

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   Dear Daddy,

   ¶

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   I just wanted to thank you
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   for looking after me so well.
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   Even though I’m not yet born.
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   I know you already try
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   harder than Superman.

    

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   You won’t even let mommy eat sushi.
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   But I need to ask you a favor.
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   Warning,
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    It’s about boys.
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    Because, you see,
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    I will be born a girl,
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    which means that
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    by the time I’m fourteen,
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    the boys in my class
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    will have called me
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    a whore, a bitch, a cunt
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    and many other things.
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    It’s just for fun of course.
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    Something boys do,
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    so you won’t worry
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    and I understand that.
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    Perhaps you did the same
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    when you were young,
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    trying to impress some of the other boys.
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    I’m sure you didn’t mean anything by it.
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    Still, some of the people
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    won’t get the joke.
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    And funnily enough,
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    it isn’t any of the girls,
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    it’s some of the boys.
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    So by the time I turn sixteen,
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    a couple of the boys will have
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    snuck their hands down my pants
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    while I’m so drunk
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    I can’t even stand straight.
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    And although I say no,
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    they just laugh.
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    It’s funny right?
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    If you saw me daddy,
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    you would be so ashamed,
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    because I’m wasted.
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    No wonder I’m raped
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    when I’m twenty-one.
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    Twenty-one and on my way home
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    in a taxi driven by the son of a guy
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    you went swimming with every Wednesday.
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    The guy who always told insulting jokes.
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    But they were of course only jokes,
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    so you laughed.
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    Had you known that his son
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    would end up raping me,
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    you would’ve told him
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    to get a grip.
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    But how could you know?
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    He was just a boy
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    telling weird jokes
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    and in any case it wasn’t your business.
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    You were just being nice.
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    But his son, raised on these jokes,
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    becomes my business.
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    Then finally I meet Mr. Perfect.
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    and you’re so happy for me daddy
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    because he really adores me
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    and he’s smart with a great job
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    and all through the winter
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    he goes cross country skiing
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    three times a week just like you.
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    But one day he stops being Mr. Perfect,
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    and I don’t know why.
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    Wait, am I overreacting?
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    One thing I do know,
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    I’m not the victim type.
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    I’m raised to be a strong
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    and independent woman.
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    But one night it’s just
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    all too much for him.
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    With work and the in-laws
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    and the wedding coming up
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    so he calls me a whore,
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    just like you called a girl
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    in middle school a whore once.
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    Then another day he hits me.
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    I mean I’m way out of line,
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    I can really be a bitch sometimes,
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    but we’re still the world’s greatest couple
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    and I’m so confused because
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    I love him and I hate him
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    and I’m not sure
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    if I really did do something wrong,
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    and then one day
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    he almost kills me.
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    It all goes black.
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    Even though I have a PhD,
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    a fantastic job,
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    I’m loved by my friends and family,
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    I’m well brought up
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    and nobody saw this coming.
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    Dear daddy,
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     this is the favor I want to ask;
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     one thing always leads to another.
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     So please stop it
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     before it gets the chance to begin.
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     Don’t let my brothers call girls whores,
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     because they’re not.
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     And one day some little boy
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     might think it’s true.
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     Don’t accept insulting jokes
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     from weird guys by the pool
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     or even friends,
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     because behind every joke,
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     there is always some truth.
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     Dear daddy,
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     I know you will protect me
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     from lions, tigers, guns, cars and even sushi
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     without even thinking about
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     the danger to your own life.
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     But dear daddy,
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     I will be born a girl,
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     please do everything you can
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     so that that won’t
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     stay the greatest danger of all.