the daughter i donąt have
LYN LIFSHIN
wouldnąt panic when
something white floats
back and forth across
her eyes like a tail
of a comet or when she
hears something in her
knees crunch doing
deep knee bends. She
wonąt worry like a child
of the 50ąs that each
ache is polio, and then
years later, when her
periodąs late that some
one who kissed her with
his lips slightly parted
had given her a child.
My daughterąs period
wouldnąt stay on hold
half a year, she would
not throw herself against
stone to shake out what
she doesnąt want or soak
in scalding tubs, jump
rope 12 hours as if
what was inside her
was her own life
and she didnąt
want it
