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...a selection of poetry, lyrics and random thoughts.
<<< go back to words| 'nursery rhymes' by Kelsey wedeen |
| barbie dolls and pink plastic race cars |
| dressing this world up in lace and frills |
| covering up her tears with movie star glasses |
| masking the scent of death |
| with heavy perfume. |
| lipstick piled heavy on her lips, |
| solitude is heavy in her heart. |
| we played make believe like a drug |
| waiting for reality to slip away. Say goodnight |
| to our babydoll eyes |
| tucked into our cradles, |
| smiles creeping to the corners our mouths, |
| to the corner of your soul I wandered through |
| wearing my moms stiletto heals |
| and baggy pantyhose, |
| stuffing my shirt with four pairs of socks |
| and waiting for Ken to notice me. |
| but our smiles went so much deeper than plastic |
| and the blood that we bleed is warm and inviting. |
| the cycle of life had ceased in her belly |
| and left her alone in the chill of reality. |
| she never would play with the baby dolls. |
| she said she had nothing to give. |
| she said that the babies seemed real to her, |
| like their eyes were pleading with hers, |
| like their eyes were crying with hers... |
| wrapping them in lingerie and burring their little plastic bodies |
| she left their eyes open as she laid them to their death. |
| pretty girls in pretty boxes |
| we painted our own disillusionment in cotton candy pink |
| pink hearts |
| and blood... |
| barbie dolls covered in her blood, |
| making all the other girls cry, |
| and all the baby's eyes are searching |
| around the room, |
| looking for the lace and frills, |
| looking for their mother's arms, |
| their mother's breast, |
| their mother's smile, |
| and all the baby's arms |
| are reaching from their graves, |
| reaching for you, |
| he's reaching for you... |
| I have written many poems in my past but "nursery rhymes" was one of the most difficult to complete. I found it challenging to have to create something on the spot that came from my heart and then put it down on paper for an assignment. I enjoyed the pressure as much as I loathed it and found that although I wasn't always completely satisfied with the piece, I was still inspired to push through and keep working on it. |
| After hearing the class responses to my rough draft I decided to basically leave the poem as it was but add a couple of lines for clarity. I also decided to write the whole poem in lower case letters to give the reader a sense of child like innocence. |
| I wrote "nursery rhymes" with two specific females in mind. The first one is my best friend who had a miscarriage in high school and the second is my ex-boyfriend's little sister who is just fourteen and went through an abortion last week. I watched two very young girls go through very adult experiences and it hurt me to know how alone they both felt going through it. I think it's so important to get more female poetry, art, books, music and just plain information out to women young and old because I know first hand what it feels like to be alone and confused. I remember the first time I heard Ani Difranco sing. It felt like somebody reached into my head and pulled the thoughts right out. It was the first time I ever felt truly connected to my sex and most of all, understood. I tried to accomplish this same sort of feeling in my poem and I think I did on some lines but over all it still needs work. |
| The ending is still the weakest part of my poem. I liked my use of imagery when I juxtaposed the rosy pink of the nursery to the blood of the abortion but I think I over used it a little towards the end. I would like to eventually figure out a way to make the ending as strong as the beginning. I am still considering this poem a work in progress. |
| I am very pleased with "nursery rhymes" and, although it was a difficult endeavor, I enjoyed the writing process thoroughly. I wish we could do more poems instead of other papers, but I guess that's just a hopeless dream, (seeing that the semester is almost over). I will continue to look at "nursery rhymes" and try to find ways to make it different or better, but over all I think it's a poem I can be proud of. |
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all material © 2004 - 2008, Carl Tewksbury |
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