Not one of my eight-word poems, but one of those I felt compelled to write. I was reminded of the doll in question while watching a collection of short films made by the Quay Brothers (or Brothers Quay, as they were sometimes billed)…

It wasn’t something I meant to do
I’m not even sure when I did it
I do remember one time I accidentally knocked it off the bed
and onto the wood floor
Maybe that was when it happened

I don’t remember too much about it
except that it was one of those old-style dolls
like you might see now in a Brothers Quay film
the kind with the ceramic head (with or without cracks)
I’m fairly sure it did have blue eyes

I certainly don’t remember how I came to be in possession of this doll
It had to have been on the bed I was napping on that one day
but I couldn’t tell you why it was there
After it was broken, I could shake the doll slightly
and hear rattling coming from inside

Suddenly, it was some time later
(it seemed like years, but I had little conception of time then)
I woke up from my afternoon nap in the back bedroom
surrounded by blankets—no doll in sight
Sleepy me shuffled into the living room, where Mike Douglas was on TV

(16 August 2017)