Mama Doll

            Mama Doll

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She stood at the dining room window

Hank of hair wrapped around her fore-finger,

Thumb stroking the strands. Autumn rain

Drummed the roof, air damp of rotting leaves.

Where’s Mommy? Her arms wrapped around Daddy’s

Leg. Where’s Mommy? Daddy turned his face,

Made a noise in his throat, pushed

Her off his leg, rushed out into the wet, leaving

The kitchen door ajar. She watched out the window

Until dark joined the cold.

She stomped upstairs to her bedroom,

Took her dollies out of her old crib,

Where they lay all in a row. She clutched

Mama Doll to her chest and with blunt scissors,

Chopped off its hair.

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