I did not tell her
For I did not know how
I once was pretty
But I don’t feel that now
Daddy told me that girls like me
Could be cuter with a smaller nose, so you see…
I changed that.

I did not tell her
She will never guess
How once my hair was such a mess
Long crazy curls
On such a little girl
Daddy said they must be tamed
So I could not be blamed
For changing that.

Daddy said to gain some weight
To straighten my gait
To wax my legs
“No hair on those pegs,” he said
So I changed that.

My teeth in braces
My boobs with gel
The plastic surgeon was,
“what the hell, you’ve done too much
for a girl so young
why are you so hung up
on changing everything?”
Because you fool, it would bring me love

Daddy applied to a pageant
He said that it was urgent
I had potential they’d recognize
When they saw the gap between my thighs
Daddy was in the front row seat
When all the others bowed out in defeat

Such a proud, winning
Daddy’s girl I was on top of the world.

She doesn’t know
I will not tell her
How hard I worked to be this way
How I feel almost sculpted out from clay
How every swimsuit round in every beauty contest
Became a joke, something I came to detest

How every man who dated me
Could never ever see
Beyond the façade, beyond this face
At my hungry heart, at my inner grace
At this lonesome life I’d come to lead
How it never fulfilled the abject need
To be Daddy’s girl

I was a toy
There was no joy
No surprise
The light left my eyes

So you, you, and back there too
Listen up I’ll say it once, and again, and again

You are beautiful, you are fine
Your arms, your ass
Any colour your skin is – let it shine
From your toothy grin
Your tiny tits
Your squeaky voice
To your ample hips
Would you rather make them shake and twirl
Or would you rather be a Daddy’s girl?

And so she stands
Small yet tall
With her cheeky smile, with her perfect hands
Her belly, her body,
Her presence demands
Acceptance for everything she is and will become
A queen, a surgeon, a soccer star
A head of state who travels far and wide
Who is seen for her strength
Her kindness, her beauty,
Her capacity for giving
With no other duty than to her spirit
My love, my laughter,
My child, my daughter
Who really is just her own person.

Dedicated to Priyanka Chopra
Dubai March, 2016