the first time i was given a voice
i will never forget
my parents’ lengthy, messy custody battle,
and the day the judge asked me,
do you want to see your father?
“No.”
a resolute 13-year-old girl
knowing right from wrong.
my father’s abuse, deplorable.
i was not safe with him and
my siblings were not safe with him
but, the judge didn’t listen.
i can’t imagine not having a relationship with my daughters.
he said.
a good girl would have said yes
he implied.
why even bother asking
when he told me what to think anyway.
that day, among many in a lifetime,
a man telling me he knows best,
was the first time my voice was snatched away.
