Home » Poems » Kim Rodrigues » Us Girls Live in a Fantasy

Notes About The Poem

Barbie, my love, my fantasy, not the girlfriend thing...the doll. This poem is playful. Inspired by a book from the library and childhood. When you read of the stripes, just following the ahem, theft, there just might be a correlation. Hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane or this nostalgic write if you are many, many years behind me. I am also rereading "Jaws." I read it back in the 70's. Why not? It's the 50th anniversary of the movie which came out soon after the book. Us golden oldies like to reminisce.

Us Girls Live in a Fantasy

Waist not an outfit, Barbie with her slip-on shoes,
fairy-belts; plush hair, sometimes in ponytails.

Forget-me-not her impossible figure. Why do some
suppose that Barbie should be fat or ostracised?

So what we dream in fairytales! So what, feminity
is only skin deep and doesn’t include secret places.

Us girls always knew what was there. It’s all pretend.
We live in a fantasy. So what, Ken is not the doll

he’s cracked up to be. He still represents those others,
when we were too young or shy to approach those males.

I loved my Barbie dolls! I didn’t have enough - my aunt
had a whole boxful that I’d play with on yearly visits.

I had a Barbie wig, the kind for a doll’s head. Missing
a wig that just happened to be at my neighbor friend’s.

She said it was hers…it could have been. I didn’t believe
it then…do I believe it now…I do if were meant to

stay friends, even at a distance, because I might fight
for a boxful, but a wig - that’s just ridiculous. Even in

swimsuit stripes, Barbie is striking. She bares her shoulders.
She has those long, luxurious legs. I’m short, but I

can have fun dressing her up. I must buy my wardrobe
on the spot, if it looks good; if it’s a good fit. But

Barbie, she can wear anything. She was better than
paper dolls though I still enjoyed dressing them.

Barbie can be dolled up or wear a tweed suit.
She can have a modern do, wear gloves and a hat.

This trending doll grooves through the ages,
changes colors, hairstyles, and outfits.

Lastly, covid inspired a book idea, for Karen Feder,
Barbie Takes The Catwalk. I saw this Mattel doll

in my library’s oversized book collection…
I had to bring it home, as if it was a puppy dog.

childhoodfree verse

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Paige Hind

July 29, 2025 at 8:38 PM

Hey, this is a cute poem, Kim! Very interesting,

Kim Rodrigues

July 30, 2025 at 8:49 AM

Glad you like it! Hugs

Bj Legros Kelley

July 27, 2025 at 2:29 PM

Oh, this was so fun, I loved Barbie too. I have a Francie doll that my sister had found in my mom's attic. She put her in the sweetest little clothes, put a fresh Band-Aid on the dolls ankle and gave it to me for Christmas a decade and a half ago, and I loved getting her for Christmas some forty years after I first got that doll! Barbies don't heal well though, thus the 'ace' band-aid on her ankle. She received her owie dancing on a Seven-Up can back in the 70's when she slipped into the can :)

Kim Rodrigues

July 28, 2025 at 6:25 AM

Thank you for your reminiscence! I enjoyed your stroll down memory lane with “Francie” Warm hugs :)

Gershon Wolf

July 24, 2025 at 7:26 PM

I see that 'Barbie' meant 'living the dream.' And why not?!! I really enjoyed this one Kim and gained some understanding of the Barbie phenomenon. Thanks, gw

Kim Rodrigues

July 25, 2025 at 7:26 AM

Thank you so much! I love the dolls but not the movies & cartoons. Our imaginations are best. My mom sewed a pretty Spanish dress for my Barbie. I wish I had a picture of it. Another cool thing about my mom was that her grandma made her a leopard skirt instead of poodle.