German Doll, by Greta Bolger

Photograph of unknown origin, found in a Michigan attic.

German Doll

Not hard to see why some family lost track
of you, abandoned in some attic for 200 years.
 
Pinched face, crimped hair, hands like flippers,
good for nothing but shoving. Neither smiling

nor elegant, yet seated high up as if enthroned,
obsessively well-tended garden a backdrop
 
for your tattered jacket, faded dress,
big black boots fit for kicking small animals.

Greta Bolger

Greta Bolger is a writer and visual artist retired and living the dream in NW lower Michigan. Her previous work has appeared in several print and online publications, including Electica, typishly, The Chimaera, Third Coast, Literary Bohemian, Snakeskin and others.  She volunteers with art organizations and international efforts to support women and girls in the developing world.