My Daughter

My Daughter

A Poem by Nothing Personal

A small child in Tiruchirapalli, India
Called me "Dad";
Even though I am only twenty five
And my girlfriend & I are happy
With our relationship
At where it stands.

To be a father,
You don't need to marry
And Conceive a child.

Instead you can simply visit www.savegirlchild.org
And donate 10 dollars a month;
And simply with that
You can become a father
The careholder of a little child
Across borders
Millions of miles away
In a small village at the middle of nowhere.

Her name is "Asha"
It means hope,
It means she can put behind her dungy days
Sleeping on pavements , crying out loud
Without even an ounce of "roti" and a cup of warm milk
Unbeknownst of her drunk 'father'
Whose one dark whim
In a shady, autumn night
With a hapless and ill fated teenager of barely fifteen years
Created her.

She is five years old now,
They are teaching her Hindi & Malayalam
And a little bit of English.
So that she can stand up
And outpour words and letter in a journal
Fill the pages with light and hope.
She might once write a letter to me as well.

They say she can say "Appa" now
Which means father.
They have told her of me.
I wonder what goes across her little, troubled mind
How she relates to father
Unseen and Unheard
A man who sends few green colored papers to take care of her.

I want to meet "Asha",
Talk to her
Look at her innocent, deep black eyes
And smudgy nose
And call her "Beti".
Run with her in the dusty village road
Which heads to the blue mountains
Peek into her classroom from the window
And watch her learn and grow.
Tell her stories of Rapunzel and Hans Christian Andersen
And how fairy tales are real.

I want to answer all her questions
That visits her mind and tell her how she is so special.
I want to watch her grow every moment
And to see her transformation from a tiny little bud
To a wonderful flower.

I wait for the time
When her hands will hold a pen
And write a letter
Which would look something like this
" Dear Papa,
Wherever you are,
Whatever you do,
I can feel the shower of love and blessings
That is on me always
Because of you.
I have no complaints,
I have no issues.
I have no doubts
For I from the bottom of my heart
Know that I love you
And that you love me too"

She could one day be a Doctor
Or an Engineer
Transform lives of people
Near and About her.

But I feel she will be a Poet
Who would write
Use free , liberated verses
To fight and strive
Against the bitter sweet world
Make it better
Fill it with hope
For more "Asha's".

Whatever she does,
I know my "Asha"
Will make me proud
One day. Someday.



© Nothing Personal. December 21, 2010.

© 2011 Nothing Personal


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. next year ... i will go and visit her for you ... 99% ... and this message is critical for the anthology ... thank you for this ... (as you know i am freezing the content on thursday so this really helps) ... btw, you are a remarkable father ...

Posted 13 Years Ago


4 of 4 people found this review constructive.




Reviews

This is so cute. Great job :)

Posted 13 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

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this affected me--too long a story to explain, but
really this really moved me more than u know...
I really appreciate this poem---sincerely...

Posted 13 Years Ago


i can relate to this being a dad, i liked this poem alot. and i love the meaning, people can be parents without conceiving kids, and just cuz the baby is blood doesn't mean the mom is her mom. lol you get it. loved the poem.

Posted 13 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.


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1969 Views
63 Reviews
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Shelved in 9 Libraries
Added on December 21, 2010
Last Updated on January 3, 2011
Tags: Help a girl child, Help a Child

Author

Nothing Personal
Nothing Personal

TX



About
Hi !! I don't fuss too much about sharing a name or an identity. I came across this website and found it to be an interesting niche for writers without distinctive labels. It is a great place to befri.. more..

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