Bad Way #4

when Claudine was a girl
a younger girl
she put doll hair on kitchenware
she called them elves
she put the elves on kitchen shelves
she put them to work

for hours they would toil
silent, not devoted but martyred
they would build what she wanted
she would caress them
she would want what they built
she was below maintenance

she would give them names from TV shows
Oscar, Felix, Shaggy
Mr. and Mrs. Roper
she was an architect
even then

November 2, 1997