The Modern Barbie Doll: A Collection of Poetry
Barbie Gets Into Erotica and Porn
by Lyn Lifshin
wants to change her
name to Cherry
Bubbles or Tasty
Flakes wants to
party to learn
what turns men
on and how to
wiggle she's sick
of her navy clothes,
her nurse uniform wants
a rhinestone g-string
pasties that dissolve
in a mouth she wants
to sprawl on velvet
or fur hopes
someone can air brush
where her legs can
be pulled from her
torso she wants to
pose in a split
beaver, not be
a split beaver wants
to be with a
man who can keep
wood long, be her
lumberjack not
a plastic pretty
buy without even
a flea of a penis
Barbie Stalks Clothes
by Lyn Lifshin
Instead of flesh
lovers. It's expensive,
yes, but less so. She
drapes skin of animals.
leather or suede
close to her, puts on
velvet, presses
sequins and
lace around her
instead of any
frozen lake eyes
that could leave
Her closets are
stuffed, like a
freezer of frozen
men, just in case.
Doors burst, most
jackets still have
their original tags
on them like.
stiffs in the morgue.
A lot are out of
fashion but are
there, wait for her
touch, seem to long
for her, ache
to cover her thigh
when she looks them
over pressed so
close to each other.
wrinkled, hard to
see, she usually
frowns, feels she
hasn't anything
to wear, heads out
as if the hunt is
what matters
Barbie Reads of Judy The Pregnant Doll
by Lyn Lifshin
with maternity
wardrobe and
sensible shoes,
a fashion doll
with a belly
that snaps off,
reveals are re-
movable baby
that a flat
tummy panel and
a baby carrier
come along with.
Husband Charlie
is sold separately.
She pats her own
flat mid riff.
isn't sure about
another slit in
her skin. After
all, at least
one owner's jerked
her head off and
switched it with
Ken until her
mama howled. May
he it's velcro,
won't be as
had Barbie thinks
wondering if perhaps
she could give
birth not to a
howling baby but
a kitten, some
thing furry she
could curl up
against, not need
any Charlie or
Ken. to stick her
or suffocate, keep
her trapped as when
she had a rod up
inside her on
a pedestal her
feet were in too
high heels to
run from
Barbie Feels Something Else Inside Her
by Lyn Lifshin
with other schemes
in her head,
something buried
in the dark space
so long it's stopped
being patient as
Barbie She feels
a finger giving
her the finger,
a yelp or howl,
making a soup
in her blood,
tap dancing on
any calmness.
Those who pick
her up and press
her to their
own lips, or
crying may feel
a shudder they
suppose is their
own. This other
waits, shoves
her arms up thru
Barbie's throat
when she sleeps
like a tongue
with its s.o.s.,
tells stories,
sings songs from
the fifties even
Barbie forgot
she knew The
night she moans
for stars, weeps
for lost moons
she gives Barbie
insomnia so she
doesn't know if
like a yucca, she
will wait 100
years to bloom,
die over night