Raggedy Ann — Pt. 1
A poem about a sad doll
With so much to do something glues me in place why do I choose to stew in my own vile malaise?
Like a limp raggedy ann in a dusty toy shop storefront… all day long I watch as passersby get what they want.
But… not me… I sit and wait… not moving is commonplace. Sleeping and wishing and resenting my inanimate state…
Sad, silly doll… few can relate… for the toy soldiers have their army mates, and the barbies have dresses and shoes and party dates, even the building blocks, when stacked properly, create something great!
But, not me, not me– I’ve been here so long my darling braids have come undone my freckles are faint and my sparkling eyes of blue paint have faded and chipped… don’t hug me too tight or my corduroy dress will unzip! For I’m falling apart at the seams, needless to say, I’m no longer in any child’s dreams…
Today, the storekeeper smiled sadly and did say: “Dear Raggedy Ann, you can’t stay! When my customers look at you, they just walk away… you remind them of all the things they want to forget. Why can’t you smile or look brighter–you’re still young yet!”
I stared back at him, my somber face unmoving as his hand reached for me, pulling me down from the shelf, where for so many years I had laid. I bade my life here a silent and sweet goodbye, though no tear came to my eye. It was better this way — a doll as dirty and frayed as I had no place in a window!
So out in the snow, he threw me… though with rue in his voice… I heard him call, “I’m sorry for it all, my dear, dear doll…”
…And now a grimy rat chews at my peachy-grey leg, and drags me to a sewer grate — there his vermin family wait… gnashing and clawing — with quick maneuvers they rip my thread sutures, and carry me to their nest — the place that I shall rest, mangled and filthy, my cotton bones soaking… a tattered mess.
Oh! and how these ghouls’ moans by night instill in this child’s toy the most wicked and lonely fright… And oh! how I still hear him call, “I’m sorry for it all, my dear, dear doll…”
If you read this far, thank you! And, yes, rather dramatic… I’m callin’ it kawaii goth/pastel goth 😿🖤🎀 … don’t worry, there’s a part two to this poem….and there JUST MIGHT BE a happy ending!! or maybe not 🎭 … Stay tuned!