Poetry
Lisa Caroline Friedman lives in Palo Alto, California. Her poems have been published or are forthcoming in The Comstock Review, Connecticut River Review, The Indianapolis Review, The Lake, The Normal School, Roanoke Review, Thimble, and Unbroken, among others. She holds a BA in English from Stanford University and an MFA in poetry from Antioch University, Los Angeles.
Back to Vol. XI: “PARA/SOCIAL”
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Doll Play
Accessible Version
Lisa and Jenny are sisters. Mia and Kim are sisters. Lisa is eight and Jenny, five. Mia and Kim
are dolls of various ages, depending. Mia’s late for work, says Lisa. She sees patients early
today. Lisa struggles to put Mia’s stiff hand into the narrow sleeve of her white shirt. Kim’s home
today. She has to take care of the baby, says Jenny, holding Kim’s long, vinyl legs in her left fist
like an ice cream cone. With her right hand, she combs the doll’s shiny black hair. Wait, says
Lisa. Let’s say it’s really hot. That they are going to the beach. That Mia has the day off. That
Kim has a sitter for the baby. Oh, says Jenny. She gives Kim a hard shake because her left eyelid
has closed, again. The lid lifts halfway, then drops, a broken shade over a plastic amber eye.
Stupid, says Jenny. Looking at her sister she says, Let’s say Kim drives because she gets carsick.
Kim and Mia rarely speak to each other. Mia needs to stop for coffee, says Lisa. The white shirt,
discarded, sits on top of a pile of doll clothes. Kim likes hot cocoa. She’s going to put her bikini
on now, says Jenny. She reaches into the pile in search of the purple two-piece. Mia does the
splits, naked, on the gray carpet. Lisa says, Mia’s too tired for the beach. She was out late with
her boyfriend. Jenny, holding a purple bikini bottom in one hand, Kim in the other, looks at
Lisa. She hurls Kim across the room. The doll hits the wall then lands sitting up with her arms
outstretched, asking for a hug. Kim needs a break, Jenny says as she stands up and leaves the
room. Lisa looks at Jenny’s back and she says to Mia, Don’t worry, Kim’s OK.