‘Dolls cannot stand alone’ #adollslife
You want the life of a Barbie doll—
the pink dream house,
fancy dresses, driving Ferraris,
riding My Little Ponies,
being married to a man as perfect as you,
whilst having occasional trysts with He-Man.
Those things will happen once,
perhaps twice.
Otherwise, you’ll spend most of your days
going through multiple wardrobe changes,
lolly-coated fingers, plaiting and unplaiting,
placing your body in compromises,
exposing anatomically blank nether regions.
Your travel will entail riding shotgun
under a minivan seat
next to empty Walker’s bags
and soaked-through McDonald’s cups,
forgotten until the next spring sort-out.
You’ll be retired to a Tupperware
grave amongst your kin
and their accessories,
some missing arms, legs and heads—
for some of them, those are all that’s left.
If you’re not as fortunate as the others,
your beautiful life may end
at the hands of the neighbour boy
who will hang you from a tree,
cover you and your lovely pink gown
in ketchup and lighter fluid
as a little girl’s tears burn.
Dani Schlosser received her PhD in Creative and Critical Writing from University of Gloucestershire in 2016. Her poetry has been featured in anthologies such as Carnival and Fire in the UK and Journey Student Literary Magazine in the US.