You said you’d let me be anything I wanted to be…
But I never could believe you
When you couldn’t let me be me.
“Don’t let them play soccer or football until they’re in college!”
I heard you say but you can’t even acknowledge…

That maybe soccer or football is their passion.

I scoffed at your judgment from the other room,
Where I thought how Dad wanted me to go into fashion,
And you only ever wanted me to someday find a groom.

Not once was I ever allowed to develop my own thoughts until I found a way out,
And I established my independence away from your drunken, self-righteous shout.
Your parenting hindered my growth as an individual,
But at least now I can pick up on confining perceptions that are habitual.