Dmatevia

“when your little girl
asks you if she’s pretty
your heart will drop like a wineglass
on the hardwood floor
part of you will want to say
of course you are, don’t ever question it
and the other part
the part that is clawing at
you
will want to grab her by her shoulders
look straight into the wells of
her eyes until they echo back to you
and say
you do not have to be if you don’t want to
it is not your job
both will feel right
one will feel better
she will only understand the first
when she wants to cut her hair off
or wear her brother’s clothes
you will feel the words in your
mouth like marbles
you do not have to be pretty if you don’t want to
it is not your job”
― Caitlyn Siehl

“Still it made no sense to Pershing that one set of people could be in a cage, and the people outside couldn’t see the bars.”
― Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration

“When is a monster not a monster? Oh, when you love it.”
― Caitlyn Siehl, Literary Sexts: A Collection of Short & Sexy Love Poems

“Your roots aren’t to be found in your childhood so much as in your child. It’s he who provides your link to the world, and home is wherever he is.”
― Carsten Jensen