Carlee Klipsun
Dad
I'm my father's accusation, too smart too lazy too much
too liberal too feminine, not feminine enough.
He comments on his friends' beautiful daughters,
wordlessly asks me to change the face he gave.
He brags in company – she has a master's degree, she won a Fulbright! –
Stops when Black Velvet and Coke remind him I'm
too smart too lazy too much like my mother - no man will ever love you! –
Reminds me to vote for the woman-hating candidate,
he's got my best interests, but don't be
too opinionated, don't impress him, don't
stop trying.
Bio
Carlee Klipsun is a disabled writer and artist from the Pacific Northwest now living in rural Georgia. Her previous written work has been published by Choeofpleirn Press and the Confluence Project's Voices of the River. Carlee spends her free time feeding raccoons and volunteering for her tribe, the Chinook Nation.