today i’m here for the little girls
and the grown-ass women
who never had a Daddy
and never needed one.
i’m here for the bad bitches
with loud voices
refusing to be silenced.
the ones who might’ve been princesses
heaven forbid. confined to fancy balls
and kitchens and the beauty parlors
of the patriarchy.
if only Daddy had been around
to oversee things properly.
i’m one of those women

brought up by women
who brought home the bacon
and fried it up
and saved the grease for hard times.
the man i never called Daddy,

brought me a present once.
a cabbage patch doll
missing her adoption papers
and the bottom half of a bright green glass bottle of Mountain Dew
and a single Reese’s Cup. 
while i was getting dressed up
like a curly headed, itty bitty,
blonde, porcelain doll,
he got hungry along the way.