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Poetry | August 2013

Rescued Barbie

By Elizabeth Kerlikowske

They sawed off her breasts.

It took a long time, two sessions.

            Inside she was crammed with cotton,
            a giant bouffant tampon.

Rose made a tube top from the cuff of her own sock.

They cut her hair with a toenail clipper and spiked it with glue.

            Rose amputated the misformed feet and replaced them
                          with GI Joe’s boots.

There.
The impediments to her success were corrected.

Pants from a glove.
Two skirts from sweater sleeves.

Space helmet a cream cheese container.

            Nick tattooed Barbie’s arms with hearts and hammers.

Complete
                          wrapped in Xmas paper
                          under the tree
                          for me   for me   for me

1 reply on “Rescued Barbie”

Deborah Carolsays:
September 3, 2013 at 1:03 pm

I love this poem. Should have bought my boys a Barbie.

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