Laurie Kolp
Becoming Mannequin
Delivery hinged upon me and I failed.
Had I known the end, I might have
strategized, or perhaps been more attentive
but my basic needs became weighted down
by selfish desire, my instinct-thrust inhibitions
became slurred like an unarmed victim of
something that might have been good
something that might have transformed into love
something that might have kept my spirit
from escaping singed womb and becoming
emotionless, still, motionless, nil, numb
as naked mannequin.
Laurie Kolp, author of Upon the Blue Couch (Winter Goose Publishing, 2014) and Hello, It’s Your Mother (Finishing Line Press, 2015), serves as president of Texas Gulf Coast Writers and treasurer for the local chapter of the Poetry Society of Texas. Laurie’s work has appeared in Gargoyle, Yellow Chair Review, Prelude, Scissors & Spackle, Found Poetry Review, and other journals. She lives in Southeast Texas with her husband, three children, and two dogs.
This poem is not previously published.