Leah

She is envy.

A perfect doll, long misplaced. 

She was made with a delicate touch; 

Thin porcelain. Gorgeous, 

But so easy to break . . . I know. 

Children found her and tore her hair 

Ripped her clothes and cracked her chest

. . . . gentle touches . . .

 Covered her with what was closest to home 

Washed her matted, spiked hair

. . . . sitting in that warmth,

 She is dressed too unfit, but matching, 

It's somehow doll-like. 

Her hair - though short - has softened, 

Flowing in small caramel waves. 

The paint on her face is unchipped - faded - beautiful,

But the cracks in her heart may never go away;

Even so, she is a doll - princess - and can know in his arms. 

Pulling my teary-eyed face away from the window,

I have drowned in presumption about it all. 

Sinking deeper, I wonder: 

'Is she their image?' 

Seeing him hold her, seeing him smiling with them . . . 

My eyes take focus on my reflection. 

I see my full feminine features. Different. TRAPPED IN THIS GLASS ! . .

A caring - searching - glance over his shoulder (over his wings) across the sea of broken faces . . . 

For me, or for her?

Does - will - can - he see ME? 

Sitting on their shelf, I wait . . .

A "perfect" doll, long misplaced.

Author's Note

Please give an honest/brutal review. Can you figure out the meaning? In depth thoughts will be much appreciated.

Reviews

[AliciaB]

This sounds to me like the voice of someone who has watched the one she loves choose another. This "other" girl - perhaps a close friend of the speaker - has experienced a lot of pain, but she is still very beautiful in spite of it (and possibly because of it). The speaker has not undergone such suffering, and perhaps she does not feel worthy of the affection awarded to the other girl because of this. But she cannot suppress her longing for the one she loves. This is a beautiful poem. The doll metaphor is used wonderfully throughout, with an interesting glimpse at the reality behind it near the end. I am very intrigued by the lines "Children found her and tore her hair / Ripped her clothes and cracked her chest / . . . . gentle touches . . ." It sounds as if the "children" were treating the "doll" with tenderness, yet they still hurt her, just as real people who act with loving intentions sometimes cause others more pain than help. A couple of my other favorite lines are "The paint on her face is unchipped - faded - beautiful, / But the cracks in her heart may never go away." They speak to the ethereal, pain-filled beauty of this person. I also love the line about her hair "Flowing in small caramel waves" (AWESOME description!). And the part about the reflection is very interesting. Overall, this poem is sad in a beautiful way. Excellent work once again!

[LittleBear]

Thank you AGAIN for your awesome review!! :))
I know I made this very difficult to interpret. This is actually about my crush's sister. I have become very close to my crush's father because he is a teacher (I look at him as a father figire) but I still have a long way to go with my crush. I do not know his sister at all but they speak so fondly of her. I presumed a lot about her from stories her father would tell me and I think she has experienced a lot of the pain that I have. She has been bullied (so the part about the children - was intentional.The gentle touches was supposed to refer to her father. I think I should fix the punctuation to make that more clear) and she dresses a lot like a boy (and even though she gets made fun of for that, I know she doesn't do it intentionally and because she is his blood she is my "sister" and beautiful either way). Every story I tell in this poem about what has happened to her is supposed to double as applying to me. The part about the reflection is supposed to illustrate the one way I am not like her: that I am feminine and sometimes wish I wasn't. I am afraid she is HIS standard of beauty because she is his sister and that I won't live up. I generally don't say what poems are about because I want other readers to come up with their own conclusions but this one meant so much to me that I had to. It is a painful situation but sometimes it is the only brightness I can look to. It is honestly a super in depth story and I haven't covered every detail about the whole story or the poem so I apologize that it is hard to understand. If I tried to state it all you'd be reading for an eternity. I am glad that you liked the line about her hair. My sister made fun of that line but I loved it because that really is the best way to describe the beauty of thier hair. I am so happy to see you call my work excellent! Thank you bunches ♡

[AliciaB]

You are most welcome! It's wonderful to hear the stories behind pieces of writing like this - it gives them a whole new level of depth, and it's fascinating to see the connections between the literary devices used in a poem and the real-life experiences they represent. I'll be praying for you, your crush, and his sister.

[LittleBear]

I am so pleased to see that you appreciate the story and it is correlation. I am so happy that I decided to share my situation with you and that I have found a friend like you on this site. I would GREATLY appreciate if you did pray for us. I almost cried when I read that because I do believe that God wants us to be together and I so need his help. I am always asking my loved ones to pray for us. Thank you so much for everything! You truly are a dear ♡

[??????]

You painted a lot of vision here. Metaphorically a person trapped wishing to be free and loved:) Great job:)

[LittleBear]

Thank you

[??????]

Your very welcome:)