China Children (Poetry)
20th March 2016
First published in Word Craft Issue 19 Spring 1986
When she returns she’s greeted by
the grin of porcelain
a row of bold, unblinking stares
and brows arched in disdain.
She stoops to kiss each pallid cheek
to each she gives a name
but love can’t move the painted lips
or kindle life’s sweet flame.
Long-thwarted dreams of motherhood
find solace in small hands
and recite the timeless nonsense
that children understand.
Cradled safe on lonely breast
those bodies fail to melt
and remain quite unresponsive —
no single heartbeat felt.
The focus of a fantasy
in secrecy they breed
a china children family
to fill a woman’s need.
When she returns she’s greeted by
the grin of porcelain
a row of bold, unblinking stares
and brows arched in disdain.
She stoops to kiss each pallid cheek
to each she gives a name
but love can’t move the painted lips
or kindle life’s sweet flame.
Long-thwarted dreams of motherhood
find solace in small hands
and recite the timeless nonsense
that children understand.
Cradled safe on lonely breast
those bodies fail to melt
and remain quite unresponsive —
no single heartbeat felt.
The focus of a fantasy
in secrecy they breed
a china children family
to fill a woman’s need.