The Architect's Daughter

This is how my father was built
They took Martian flowers & ground them & stirred the paste into ocean water
His head was moulded first for it was a forge
It’s where he would craft planets / the little gods / our city
Hands came next & his are restless for they constantly grip graphite
My father hasn’t told me who built him yet
Once, my brother & I cracked his head open / we found cogs where his brain was
supposed to be

My father is called artificer / from his spring he pulls flames / twists humus to his will
He sculpts a world where buildings shift colours / swirl & the trains follow sports
Everyone knows not to bring up the La Decima triumph from two thousand & seventeen
in the Anaji train station
I don’t remember it but that’s because I wasn’t built
My mother held me in her belly / I came out bloody & squealing
My father says I was tiny / I looked like a gecko but he gave me shoes of stardust
My nursery was my very own solar system

My father is older / I am not quite sure how old
Now his creations are made with cloves & bouillon cubes
As sous chef I always do the dishes
When I moved out my father took me to the place where buildings sit on waterfalls
& wove me a dress of stardust
My new home is a galaxy he made just for his little girl