April 26, 2021
Photo by Ellen Goodman
Curiouser and Curiouser
by Melissa Coffey
Here’s to the curious girls,
books are bursting with them; Alice,
Pandora and Nancy Drew, Mary
discovering her secret garden
Girls who don’t sit quietly with dolls,
but steal the magnifying glass
from their brother to count
legs on a centipede, petals
on a daisy; to see
the kaleidoscopic eyes
of a dragonfly, caught in a jar,
gazing back at them
Who peer between
and poke beneath,
cobwebs in their hair,
exploring the crawl-space, searching
for Alice’s rabbit-hole,
attic dust on their dress, following
Lucy through the wardrobe, eyes alert
for a glimmer of Narnian snow
Always asking why; she wants
torches and magic kits,
chemistry sets for Christmas
let your daughters be curious, don’t
tame or shame their questions; let them,
like Dorothy, ride a tornado to Oz, or venture
through the looking-glass; let life
be their endless encyclopaedia
Curious girls
become scientists and spacewomen,
mathematicians, politicians,
change-makers, ceiling-breakers,
mouthpieces for an ailing
Mother Nature; curious girls
become clever women who
challenge and change the world
Give girls magnifying glasses,
engraved with their names;
let your daughters be
curiouser and curiouser
Connect
See more of film photographer Ellen Goodman’s work on Instagram.
Read more writer Melissa Coffey’s work on Twitter, Facebook, and on Medium.