To Fathers With Daughters

Why is my first reaction always anger?

Anger was the only emotion

that my parents ever expressed.

And I guess that’s why,

to this day,

I confuse anger, with love.

I learned from an early age

to swallow your protest

in exchange for their

peace of mind.

But it always lead right back to anger.

I kept so much of this emotion

tucked inside my chest,

that it changed me into someone

I no longer recognized.

Something I never meant to be.

Every time my father yelled at

me as a little girl

he engraved into my brain

that anger is the same thing as kindness.

But I grew up trusting men

who only hurt me.

Because they looked so much like him.

But I learned that anger is a secondary emotion.

Because there is some need that is not being met.

I learned that at some point

being angry is just another bad habit.

Like smoking you just

keep poisoning yourself

without even realizing it.

Anger is a sign that something

needs to change.

And only you have that power.

In order to move on,

you must understand why you felt

what you did.

And why you no longer need to feel it.

So close your eyes, and please understand

that you are still young.

And the universe is endless.

And somehow, everything will be okay.