A Myth of Love for Girls

When the father died
parts of his body were scattered
to the four corners
his eyes went north
his hands went east and west
his feet went south
the daughter spent twenty some years searching
for the parts of him
she found a man who had her father's eyes and saw
her the way her gather never had
she found a man who had her father's right hand
to hold
her the way her father never could
she found a man who had her father's left hand
to paint
her the way her father never did
she found a man who had her father's feet
she stood on top of this man's feet
as she had stood on her father's feet
when she was a little girl
but not after that
and she and the man danced this way
the girl loved all the men equally
and she was no longer lonely
but her heart was still broken
into four pieces
so she wept and wept and the men
bewildered by her tears drifted away
but after some time her tears mixed with the earth
and became clay and she formed the clay into a man
who was not any part of her father
when she kissed his mouth he came to life
and together they roamed the four corners of the earth
both whole and alive
and in the sky were birds
and underfoot was grass
and to the east rose the sun
and to the west came the moon
-Francesca Lia Block