I hope my daughter is beautiful
in the wildest of ways
like tree roots
reaching deep into the earth
fierce, not cute
and growing as deeply
as her branches will rise
reaching to the beckoning skies
and down into the core
always aware, there is more
I hope my daughter is free
like sea foam is free
a product of oceans commanded by moon
finding space where there was no room
and riding life as it is cresting
flying, finding, creating, nesting
I hope my daughter is beautiful
in the way that wind is not dutiful
conducting the garden
to bend and sway
and knowing the only possible way
is to join that dance
and be blown as you blow
it’s how she’ll grow
I hope she will know
that beauty is like fire and ice
it rarely thrives in sweet or nice
but rather in the dusty ground
of which her growing place is found
I hope my daughter’s beauty bound
with all that wildness
swirling round.
~ ~ ~
~ Donna Ashworth from "Growing Brave"
Art by Janice VanCronkhite
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