girl named Honesty

overheard a mother proudly referring to her daughter
“honesty,”

as if to say this was a wise choice in

naming,

as if to say with every breath spoken about her daughter,

that she’d always be something

special.

one cannot escape this mother’s

“subtle” implication,

that her daughter will always live up to what she was

predetermined to be,

before she even formed a word of her own

&

going further, one must understand the hurtles,

the hair pulling, the scratching,

the outright

belt buckle

beatings,

which she will endure,

given every cat fight that one can toss her into,

along that path of teenage

torture,

just because

we

all

know

that

she

is a

liar.

(she never had a goddamned chance)