The Doll's Alienation

Tom Whalen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To cough in the closet and know no one hears you. Dinners with stuffed
animals, wooden inanimates. She would write a letter, but who would bother to
read it? Will she feel at home tomorrow? The next day?

The doll's roach-infested dress. Her smudged make-up. Last night she
did not dream. Or the night before.

On the top shelf, in the dark, she listens to the child making love to
someone else.