Daughter

“Daughter of my flesh, don’t blame me for this.
This is not my fault. It is the will of God.
It may seem that this is cruel, but
We must bear up. And of course,
You exaggerate the situation. People don’t really
Follow you around, shouting things,
And you’re not really friendless; you
Don’t sit on your own all day.”

And even if these things were true
I would deny them. It couldn’t happen here,
Nor to such a one as this.

(1988)