Fatherless
by Bella Melardi
God visits the iniquity of the father
Upon the daughter
Fatherless she is called
She is born a failure but he didn’t fail her
She is born giving but it is his first time living
Fatherless she is called
He’s only human but she’s a woman
Women gasp so men can breathe
Women ache so men can feel
She became her own monster
Accountability is the knife
That she stabs in the wounded
He can be a bad father
but she can’t speak up
Or else she’s a bad daughter
I learned how to survive
In a world that told me survival was a blade
Wound or be wounded
I am a monster
Due to my survival
That’s what I’m told
But if survival was a sin
We’d all be blasphemous
And this would be hell
And maybe there’s freedom in blasphemy
When you’re not hiding
Under the cloak of righteousness
I don’t want men to treat me as a woman
An instrument of pleasure
Or a problem to control
A woman is a weapon
Kept locked away and not loaded
To keep her safe
But if she wasn’t restricted
She could be more powerful
Than any man’s nightmares
I want to be okay
Live without these chains
I desire a pretty cage
Because the world tells me
I need to keep danger out
But danger sleeps next to me
And she tells me sweet lies
Like if I’m not what men want
I won’t ever be able to like myself at all
About the Author:
Bella Melardi is a poet and author. She attends OCADU. She writes about social justice and mental health. @poetluvs
