back to school

daughter
(for magdalene and june)

it’s ok
if they call you names.
it’s fine to tell a boy
no thank you
and when his friends follow
to ask your number
four more times
it’s ok
to ignore them.

you were not born
to be nice.

you were not born
to flinch and hide,
pulling your flannel
tight around your torso
and staring down
the gymnasium wall.

you were not born
for other people’s choices,
not for the desire
of the boy who wants to go
to the movies
or the hope of your mother
who wants you to go to college.

you don’t even have to
be a revolutionary
if you don’t want to.

you were born for
the two a.m. cold
and a walk alone,
singing or silent,
going somewhere
or nowhere
at all.
you are at home
in yourself.
you are all the ways
to get there,
on your own time,
and you owe no one
a glance back.