Poem: Rag Doll Rescue

Rag Doll Rescue

Pretty little doll
with dark curly hair,
painted-on smile

how tattered you’ve become

cobwebs cling to shadows
behind vacant hazel eyes
dust balls collect in folds of your dress.

I pull a thread dangling from your heart,
witness the unraveling.

Demons from childhood
tumble to the floor,
scramble for safety
under machine-cut scraps of cloth.

I watch your mouth pout, tremble
tears slip from your eyes –
so stuffed with fear and self-loathing.

I gather you in my arms
carry you to Sunporch Rocker
sit with Happy Time Blanket
in the cradle of my lap.

Unbinding pieces of cloth
I embroider each scrap
with daisy-chain daffodils,
laughter, rainbows
place them inside your empty heart.

With a needle spun
from a sliver of moon
I seal the wounds

stitching     stitching     stitching