..
she’s a toddler in a tiara,
a brand-new-almost-grown-up storm.
all hormones and horns,
sweet and spicy
t(r)ying on masks
and lies.
she de
-spises me today,
her mama,
just a little perhaps,
or a lot. which probably
means I am doing a good
….(enough)
job.
………………….(dammit)
i remember four
-teen, my
……………(oh, my)
self(s), but this is my first
time ’round this parenting
bend and i am having trouble
blending
……………(in)
tyranny and trust,
space (grace)
and safety.
I know I have to let her
(fall)
fly, but she is taking my
…………….(aching)
heart with her,
and i still
(beat)
need
………. it.
..
Whimsygizmo's Blog 
“brand-new-almost-grown-up storm” perfect. And you capture most of it spot on in the rest…
Ha. That opening is so funny-cute. 🙂
I ADORE that tons-of-hyphens second line.
Love the alliteration in the third.
“tr(y)ing” … Not only is it fun and clever to do this, but I love the pause it gives to break up words into new words with parentheses. I find it to be a very effective poetic device.
“spises” … I love the way your line break creates this, drawing out “spies-es” (a little kid way to maybe say “spies”) and also flip-flopping the first two letters, “ps-es” or “P.S. — I says!” or “pie sss.” All kinds of fun stuff. 🙂
I love your spacing/pauses here:
“which probably
means I am doing a good
….(enough)
job.”
That, along with the next few lines, has me seeing all sorts of variations in the story because of letter stacking, etc. But I’ll spare you the unrelated rundown.
That whole second half really revs me up. You are a genius, and I love you. I will stop my excessive commenting there. 🙂
I love how this is written–the pauses, run-on, and parenthetical stream of consciousness sort of musing. I’ve been there! And whether you’ve been through it before or not doesn’t always prepare you because kids are different.