This poem by Francesca Badalamenti ’18 was published in Black Fox Literary Magazine, Issue 13, Winter 2016. It is an emulation of a Ted Kooser poem written in Creative Writing class.
“Abandoned Girl”
after “Abandoned Farmhouse” by Ted Kooser
She was a small girl, says the size of her dress
on a patch of lilacs by the house;
a short girl too, says the length of her bed
in an upstairs room; and a polite, society-fearing girl,
says the smile that doesn’t fade
on the girl below the window, painted with shades of black and blue;
but not a girl for harming, say the leaky eyes
and the heart, heavy with boulders.
A brother lived with her, says the bedroom wall
papered with trucks and the kitchen floor
covered with mud, and they had a father,
says the stench of shoe polish that still permeates his room.
Money was scarce, says the holes in her clothes
and the screaming stomach.
And the summers hot, says the perspiration on her skin.
It was lonely here, say the blank picture frames.
Something went wrong, says the heart
escaping choked up words. Her paper skin and soft hands
say she was not a harmer; the briefcase
in the kitchen says he left in a nervous haste.
And the girl? Her memories are strewn in the corners
of an almost empty house,
as she sits isolated and confused,
a doll in overalls. Something went wrong, they say.