Seventeen

A face whose beauty
Is covered by a
Needless anger

Laughter
Silenced by
Perceived unfairness

Tears shed
Over injustice
That never was

Love rejected
Heart broken
A father weeps
Silent tears
For a daughter
Who wants him no longer

Straining
To break free
With no knowledge
Of freedom’s cost

He lets her go
Because he can do
Nothing else
Hoping for
Awareness
Before heartbreak

She’s only
Seventeen.