Kinsey Peterson

Rag-doll Women

Pull her rags together

Used linens line her heart and intestines

Stuffing spills from her unbuttoned eyes

 

Her mouth is sewn shut

The fraying threads are forgotten as time passed

She never had cause to speak

 

The burning of flesh is the singeing of fabric

Food lay on the table amid the smoke

Her sewn smile never faltered

 

Brightly painted but shabbily sewn

The woman is silent and watches

She sees the world that made her

 

The day will come when the stitches break

When the fabric around her waist falls loose

She will take back her name

 

A fighting spirit behind eyeless sockets

Sharpened teeth behind yellowing white lips

Strength between layers of cotton