Just in case

It’s one in the afternoon, 

as bright as a day can get,

people all around me,

I get into an auto to go home 

in a city I’ve lived all my life,

I still open maps just in case,

then we take a wrong turn,

the man says there’s an obstruction, 

this road will take us the same time, 

says something that I 

cannot really trust, 

I call dad just in case, 

the man jumps to defend himself, 

says men of certain communities are unsafe, 

you need to be cautious around them, 

it’s not all men, 

dad calls again just in case, 

and maybe the realisation hits him

whilst he eats his afternoon lunch, 

that he has daughters- 

not children but daughters in particular, 

and that he needs to always stay watchful, 

 just in case.