Harlequin

Dollhouse

good little girl
sit still, smile
look pretty
have your dress
smoothened, but
keep your ego behind your tongue

"You have to bow when you greet."
i know that
"No one likes a sour face."
i know that
"You have to mind your manners."
i know that
"You do not ever disrespect the family."
of course i know that

or maybe i just am
too stupid to remember
because my blood says i am
believe what they say
because aren't i supposed to

i wish they will stop saving a crib for me
i can't fit in there—how dare
they put three candles on the cake when
i'm turning thirteen, oh dear
the spotlight is shining on me now, since
i just want a say at the royal banquet
they think i want a standing ovation but
for me only

why do they save a diamond tiara
and dress only me in it
why do they need to have fifty canes
and me hands behind my back
saying "I didn't mean to."
why do they have a mirror
my reflection is in diapers
when i am in a ball gown

why do they turn my dreams into sitcoms
my stage into a circus
my days into dollhouse rooms

pray for the play where they pull out
the pacifier in my mouth
they don't seem to see for seventy years

*

(This poem can be read from bottom to top.)