you stared into my eyes
and never found the daughter you wanted
and imagined
*
you saw yourself grow out of yourself
you had sown yourself into me
and judged yourself terribly
everything you had left behind
dismembered from your body
what you buried inside of you
had a mouth now, hands and feet, a face
and looked at you like it belonged to you
like she belonged to you
and you couldn’t stand it
this image
this regurgitation
this reflection
what you had compressed in your smothered lower body
was what she was made of
your daughter
Croque-Melpomene 