The carpet used to be a plastic kingdom,
Where Barbie lived the lives I used to crave.
I hit the age I always dreamed of holding,
Expecting to be grown, and wise, and brave.
But looking in the mirror, nothing shifted.
I see the same kid staring at the glass.
The wisdom that I waited for evaporated,
While heavy, adult breaths begin to pass.
Sixteen is brushing closely down my shoulders.
The slack is gone; the childhood curtain falls
.I miss the days of crayons on the floorboards,
Before the stacks of textbooks built these walls.
I miss when dreams were wild and unattainable,
When being a princess felt so safely far.
Because today, the dream demands my labor,
And pressure guides the course of every star.
I pour my life into a future uniform.
I fight for perfect scores to bridge the gap
.But now I fear the sea of other perfections,
And losing my own map.
can you guess which pumpkin is mine? Barbie says to us.
No idea, lies Auntie Mame, Uncle Henry and my dog Gus.
I roll my hazel eyes at their pretensions, for next to the sink
lies a gorgeous long-lashed-eyed pumpkin completely in pink
blue eyed blond barbies, black eyed golliwogs ~ essential polarities
scraggly
let's face it
not quite Charlie Brown
scraggly
but scraggly
just the same
you were alive, though
and that's the thing
new house, new yard--
--needed you
Christmas did, too.
so killed two birds with one
you
am i really tearing up
over a tree?
you're so much more
thirty years
of memories
little boys in roper boots
and cowboy hats
riding rocker horses
grew into little leaguers
then men
overnight
and a sweet baby girl
blessed us
and went from tea sets
to barbies
then... boys
before her daddy
could ever be ready
while you grew
the house grew, too
moved you first to fatten
the driveway
then again for an addition
finally, to the corner you're in
--you just needed more room
for all the memories
you keep
with me, now
oh, Christmas tree
Here they come, the glamor divas with fabulous clothes.
Who will stay the latest is a tossup, none of us knows.
Gemini is wearing a glitzy headdress sprinkled with rhinestones.
Georgia is setting up the slam to awe us with her brilliant poems.
Gemini’s red satin gown is made by Bob Mackie naturally.
Low cut and scintillating it makes a splash on reality TV.
Georgia is throwing out metaphors in a fabulous display.
We are thrilled to feature these Barbies at Christmas Tree Cafe
BOX OF BARBIES AND BOOBS
attention all spent - on barbie dolls
clothes, hair, shoes maybe shoes
high heels…but one is lost
and boobs
and ken not attractive
a minor role
and skipper skip her
and
a pink cadillac
needs a push start
clothes perhaps because catholic
uniforms same uniforms
day in day out
conformity with saddle shoes
b o r i n g
so boobs and clothes cut out and sewn
and accessories like wigs
cancerless wigs no one talked about those things
wigs worn for fun short or long
and barbie boobs rock solid not tender
sometimes a suit bathing suit sometimes
molded right on her and a tender dress
sewn by mom- long.. spanish… beautiful…
and those boobs stayed covered in loveliness
attention on barbie dolls - no extravaganza
box full of barbies and boobs at grandmas
i want to take them home
collection of my own
and my neighbor stole
the blond wig
i think
such is childhood -
who do we trust?
our neighbor or a doll in a cadillac?
Kim Rodrigues © 2016
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