Dug Out Doll Poem by john tiong chunghoo

the dug out doll
digs into the horror
chamber of memory
heavy as my heart

soil and water take
up every space in the naked
worn out palsy contours

little holes here and there
poked by the years that
had slept in total darkness
in the alluvial, a red swamp
now punctuated only by
upturned roots, an occasional toad
and an orchestra of insects
behind leaves, barks and branches

but they cannot tame the spirit
of the waylaid doll which
come rain or storm is
determined to have that hug
from a concerned person
its arms and hands stretched
to the heavens

lightning cast shadows
on holes that have taken over
its eyes, blue tranquility
that now features two lakeful
of evil

little pinkish tender worms
wriggle out of the alluvial
trapped in them, little helpless
creatures that too is stretching
themselves and looking for love,
for providence

its owner is probably married and
is keeping her own children warm
and could not remember the poor doll
she kept so dear once and now
crying in the thunder, lightning

dug out doll, two dark crevices
that hold ghosts, empty eyes that
hunger for unsuspecting souls