Poem Of The Week - Sonnet For My Daughter by Bianca Phipps

This poem is from Bianca's collection Crown Noble published by Button Poetry

I found this poem the other day and I fell in love with it.

Sonnet For My Daughter

my mother to me

i dreamt of the lives that could have been mine

(dressmaker, horticulturist, doula,

ethical hacker, hotel manager,

perfumist, pilot, a bounty hunter,

locomotive engineer, stunt double,

dentist, sommelier, ocularist)

while cradling the swollen belly that locked

all doors but one. my identity was

relative now. you made me mother and

all the rest. gilded cagemate, child:

you lock-picked your way into the world and

left nothing for me to eat. i starved, so

i fled. you'll understand when you're older: