when i was little

i would prop my barbies up in a line

all smiling with their too-thin bodies and fantasy dresses

and think to myself

how their eyes always looked so distant and empty.

 

i did not blame them.

i knew that it was not their fault--

those skeleton figures and soulless eyes--

for someone had made them that way

(and surely they did not want to be so distant anyway)

and be grateful that real women never do that.

 

yesterday

i looked around me at the women in the billboards, the plasma screens,

all smiling with their too-thin bodies and fantasy dresses

and thought to myself

how their eyes always look so distant and empty.

 

i do not blame them.

i know it is not their fault--

those skeleton figures and soulless eyes--

for real women are so different, in beautiful colors and shapes

(and surely they long to see themselves represented, genuinely happy)

and am sad that real women never have the chance.