12gauge.com 2002

Raggedy Ann

no one
wanted to be Andy
but you didn't care
dressed as Raggedy Ann
every year Mom clad you in
homemade costume no less
couldn't be caught dead in some store-bought plastic atrocity
with a fake mask that may, be forewarned, reduce visibility.
you were too young
to want to hide then
maybe five
always five in the good poems
too young to look stupid in the
Pipi Longstocking striped socks
(although you choose to wear sailor outfits well into your late 20s)
the fake freckles dotted on with eyeliner
which didn't go over well when emulated
years later before church with brown magic marker and
the red yarn wig
that fell off in an apple bobbing bin.

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