“Things Will Be Different for My Daughter”
       The title of the novel on my mother’s bedside table
           Her go-to for all things parenting, telling her
    Of new hope and opportunity that comes in the form of

                             cell multiplication

                Things Will Be Different for My Daughter
             I Know my mother had this same hope, that
                      things would be different that
                        I would be different that
                         somehow, her mistakes
                  Would be erased by my successes
                         that somehow, I would
                                      Right
                                       her
                                    Wrongs

         But how can things be different for your daughter
              If you are not different for your daughter?

       You cannot break glasses at the dinner table and then
             expect your daughter to not break her promises
         You cannot rip up her Christmas presents while
                dripping with the poison of anger and
                expect her to not rip open wounds just
                         so she can drip Crimson

                   You cannot tell her she is nothing
           and then expect her to believe she is something

               The only way to clothe your daughter in
                            Difference and
                              Dignity and
                                Strength
                   Is to wear the shawl yourself

             It is You who must exemplify in your eyes,
                  The Fire that should burn in hers

                 So put down your self-help books
                 Put down your parenting manuals
            And instead teach your daughter about
                               Love and
                         Compassion and
                             Confidence
       Give your daughter the mortar of her truth and the
                     Bricks of her triumph and
                 She will build her tower of worth
      She will have all the self-help she needs to make sure that
            Things Will Be Different for Her Daughter