Bubble-Wrapped China Doll Poem by Nika McGuin

Oh, china doll
your silk ribbons laced tightly
plush lashes furled above your mahogany eyes
and your white cotton dress
immaculate, without a speck of dust

All swaddled up in bubble wrap
displayed neatly in the glass armoire upstairs
they so wanted to protect you from harm
never realizing that beneath the layers of plastic
you had already been broken

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Existence equals accumulation of damage
nothing and no one can escape it
not you, not your child, not even
a porcelain doll - bubble-wrapped and tucked away