Poems from the Dead

China Dolls

We spend our life working to look like those perfect little china dolls we see in stores

We starve ourselves, we paint ourselves, even if we don't like it, we force our bodies into those skimpy little clothes that show too much for comfort but at the same time have too much covered

We are told to break easy, that's why we're so special after all, just like those china dolls

But when you break a china doll, you don't put it back together

You throw the pieces in the trash, cursing the tiny bits that remain for cutting your foot, and then replace it

But we are not china dolls

We may break but it is not easy, it is hard and bloody, a fight

We don't always cut when you're picking up the pieces

We don't become worthless, we become stronger

We are china dolls in the way that men are cars

We may break and hurt others when we do, but we go through hell before we break

Men may break and hurt others when they do, they can just share it better, they can crumple on the outside, that way they don't break on the inside

We are told to become china dolls, and maybe we are, just not in the way you think

We are beautiful and fragile, but only because we want to be

We want to show our feelings, we want to feel perfect

We just don't want to be thrown around while we do it

We are china dolls, just not yours