If I ever have girls

They’ll be gentle and kind while breaking every glass ceiling

They’ll take up space and they’ll like what they like

They won’t be taught to reduce themselves or hide

My girls will be feared by weak men

They’ll demand respect because they deserve it

They will always know love

and never feel they have to earn it

They’ll know their value is inherent

has nothing to do with their looks

They will be leaders, be healers, right wrongs, write books

They’ll be mothers one day if they so choose

But their value won’t be defined by the use of their wombs

They will be whatever lives in their hearts

They will know dreams are there to be chased from the start

My girls will know poetry and song

They know I will listen when something feels wrong

They will learn that ‘women are too emotional’

is an original lie

And they will not grow up with a father who refuses to cry

So yeah

My girls will make some weak men shake in their knees

They won’t be the women society expects

They’ll be the women society needs