Everyone's Daughter

Having duly noted that I’ve passed

every test they could offer, they’ve

decided to let me in. It’s official now,

this bargain we’ve made.

Someone very thoughtful has taken

me by the hand and is carefully

explaining what things mean.

I know what things mean.

I was here once before

but all the doors were closed

and the windows dark. The butler

said I’d have to come back.

So I went somewhere else

and tried to forget this was the place

I wanted to be. But sometimes

you know where you belong

and nothing will erase it.

They’re all around me now,

these strangers with their kind faces

turning to me like a parade

of portraits in the great hall.

I could be everyone’s daughter,

standing here while someone takes

away the baggage and tips the driver.

They can make of me

whatever they like,

my face goes with anything.

But I’m my own daughter now

and I know who we are.