Play Theory
Her shoe tumbled from my trembling fingertips
I always attempted to put it back onto the slender foot
But I realized that it was no use
I was powerless over this plastic girl
And so I went to my computer
Where I entered into a world
Where I could manipulate everything
With only a blank page
And a keyboard
And my mind
And everything I had wanted to pretend
Tumbled out in words
Ten years later
What comes out
Is no longer pretend
But about everything shaped by my powerlessness
My thoughts
On the challenges I face
For being a girl
For being disabled
In this new world disorder
Women must shout for their rights
They must chant
And blockade
And march
But they must also be silent
With paper and pen
Or computer
Because sometimes
Words
Speak louder
Than actions
Shoe Collage by Various Artists
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Related reading: Issue Six—Extraordinary
Meredith, this is a beautiful poem. The first time I read it I didn’t know you had written it, but it was your beautiful smile that came to mind as I read it. Thank you.
<3 Tricia
How well you’ve done to convey the emotion so simply and eloquently!
I’ve read this many times trying to come up with a comment worthy of the skill and depth you’ve mastered with this piece. But this is the best I can do, thank you for writing this. I feel you’re a voice that needs to be heard. A voice of heart and conviction. A voice that resonates. Every girl who reads this will sigh and say, ‘she’s just like me.’
You captured the sense of restrictiveness many girls and women feel and yet there is also a hopeful message, that we all have strengths to utilize. I hope you keep writing and sharing your work.
On a side note, I hated putting those little plastic high heels on Barbie. I remember biting the shoe to make it more narrow so it would stay on her foot. A bit crude I realize, but oddly satisfying too.