Paper Dolls Poem by Taya Martinez

Once they hung so proudly
From two thumb tacks
She made them out of nothing
Yet nothing did they lack

She hummed as she cut around the edges
Then closed her eyes to string them out
Listened to the glasses breaking
She could feel the glass in her knees as she knelt

She drew their faces on
One at a time
It started with them smiling
But that soon changed down the line

Their clothes became so black
And their eyes so dead and calm
As the yelling crept inside her
She punched the tacks through their arms

She held her hands over her eyes
But it didn't cease the pressure gnawing at her head
She hit the ground to try and hide
Then noticed the matches underneath her bed

She saw her daddy do it all the time
As he lit his cigarette
So she struck the match and threw it down
And watched the flames engulf her bed

She watched the flames grow
She didn't cry or shout
She felt her skin melting
As the screaming faded out

Now nothing more then ashes
Hanging from the wall
Waiting for a gutsy breeze
To blow her out the door

Once she sat so proudly
But in her mind she wept
With the paper dolls she made from nothing
Now on that wall she's trapped