Her unkempt hair covers her face and her little hands flail asserting her disgust
This will be the first time he holds his tongue
The first time he dances with such an innocent girl
He’s used to rough used women
Used to screaming about their imperfections
Sending them back inside their cage
Cage the savage woman
He’s caressed their barbed skin, he knows their wild intentions
They’re quietly suspicious and eager to manipulate
Her delicate yelps confuse him
What did he do
How the hell does he fix this
She lunges, climbs, yanks
and he holds his tongue
He twirls her but itโs wrong
She wanted to be dipped
She told him that
She keeps him more vulnerable than any other
tiny hooligan
He chose to gamble with chance
and now he owes his lifeโs worth
His plans are scrambled
He doesn’t even think about his future
All of his energy depleted
He pushes her in the cage
She’s quiet and doesn’t fight him
He looks back and sees her eyelids swell
She hopelessly tries to push back her bottom lip
He’s confused again
Every other woman tries to escape
spits at him through the bars
He walks to the entrance of the cage and she steps away from him
This was the first time he witnessed her timidity
She was usually so wild and vibrant
He calls for her to come and her silence pierces right through him
He opens the cage and walks toward her
She runs to the steal bars cowering beneath him
He takes what strength he has left and lifts her into his arms
She clings to his shoulders
He wipes his tears in her brassy fine hair
He is forgiven
Gently he places her back outside the cage
For the first time in weeks they share a smile
To prove his devotion he steps behind the bars
She’s confused
Just as the door shuts, she runs and grabs
hold of him
Pulling and tugging him
Crying โNOโ as loud as her little voice can wail
“DADDY DADDY BE FREE DADDY”
He cries uncontrollably and holds his daughter through the metal
She fusses and pulls at him still
Regretful of all the constraints he
made women live within and
Unsure of what condition he is in
He learns to love
Unconditionally
Erin Kroncke is a writer/artist in Los Angeles, California. Her literary work has been published in Inscape Magazine, The Courier, The Closed Eye Open and Quillkeepers Press to name a few. She has written and directed several short films which have been featured in The Topanga Film Festival, Planet 9 Film Festival and others. She lives in Los Angeles with her family.
