for N.C.
My daughter says she wants “the whole shebang,”
seizing my flip word like a shiny prize.
What father wouldn’t feel a certain pang
of conscience? She’s a bit too young for slang.
A toddler and already cracking wise,
my daughter says she wants “the whole shebang.”
All that I say comes back, a boomerang,
and in its flight the meaning multiplies.
What father wouldn’t feel a certain pang
of pending loss? The girl to whom I sang
(still sing, each night) the daftest lullabies—
my daughter—says she wants “the whole shebang.”
Soon I will see her wearing Vera Wang
and drowning in another person’s eyes,
vowing eternal love. I’ll feel a pang
of pride? Of terror? Stuff the Sturm and Drang …
Let it all come, and come as a surprise.
But when she says she wants “the whole shebang,”
I turn uncertain at the sudden pang.
