Ode to Daughter

Dear daughter,
You were born a child of the universe.
You entered battling meteors on the backs of shooting stars,
Found your voice alongside thunderstorms and earthquakes,
Wrote your name into a constellation, and carved out your own orbits.
You can paint the entire galaxy from memory,
So don’t you dare tell me you are afraid of glass, because

Dear daughter,
Sometimes, the world will rob you of what is rightfully yours,
But that is why you were given legs, so you can chase after adversity the way lightning chases darkness.
I want you to be like the lakes that shine, so stubbornly blue, even when the sky is grey.
You are not to be silenced by full stops, expiry dates,
You are no contortionist, you were never able to fit into boxes.
Your voice is not laundry that can be folded and put away.
Never apologise for being right, for knowing,
But remember to always forgive those brave enough to admit their mistakes.

Dear daughter,
Your skin is soft, and it will dent easily from the imprints of those you encounter,
And you’ll wonder why feelings seem to enter easier and linger longer in your body than they do in that of others,
But never scold yourself for these emotions that flood, no;
Others will tell you your skin is too thin, they will call your heart fragile,
They will talk about stoicism like it is a victory,
But oh, do they know how wonderful it is to feel so much, to feel so alive?
To feel is not to suffer, to feel is not to surrender, so

Dear daughter,
You can cry yourself to sleep if you’re upset, but don’t you ever fall asleep to the hunger of wanting more;
The dreams you satiate yourself through will never follow into reality.
Sometimes, it is as simple as looking down at your arms and realising
The wings you were searching for have been there all along.
And when you finally set flight, you will learn that there is no such thing as falling,
Not when every cell in your body is praying for the contrary.

And dear daughter,
Please, do not ever
Mistake blue eyes for the sky, or golden hair for the sun,
Believe for a second that one person is enough to be your entire world.
Never be ashamed of standing closer to the stars than them;
Remember, “you aren’t like other girls” is not always a compliment,
The word ‘different’ is not synonymous with ‘better’.

So when you are soaring through the skies and a knight in shining armour holds out his hand,
Be sure to tell him thanks, but no thanks-
“I am not a damsel in distress.”