This poem was inspired by a recent viewing of Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf

My game ain't strong
It's just her father was weak
abandoning my seed
is something I can't conceive

Around this time last year
fatherhood gave me a scare
though my parents divorced when I was one
they were both still there

I've never dated a woman with a father
which says more about him and I than her
do I prey on sore women?
or do I pray on woman that soar?

Stop stigmatizing fatherless daughters
what about the daughterless fathers?
who plant seeds in a garden
that they can't even water

Sorry Father
but this a God damn shame
sorry fathers
think this is a god damn game

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder
so while you're out there in the world
I speak sweet nothings to your daughter
and now she thinks she's my girl

I simply say the things you didn't
and take her places you'd mentioned
no pun intended
but I'm so not kid-ding

When she sees me she sees father
which is definitely an honor
but the problem is
she see calls me daddy
as if she's one of my kids

In an attempt to be transparent
I can't play partner-parent
your daughter should be cherished
instead of treated like an errand

No matter how many holes
As long as you have any souls
go as far as you can go
cause your daughter's worth the toll

To all the female martyrs
who have lived and died without present fathers
patriarchy will pay the priceless price
thy Father's will be done