TOYS
i lived in a bedroom made of toys/ i liked to be
with dolls & trucks/ the other kids would watch/
i kept playing/ & after a while/ i forgot about
them/ & their breathing became quiet/ & i had a
good feeling in my spine/ that felt like a yawn
in my ears/ through knowing/ other children/ were
watching me playing/ & me ignoring them/ &
knowing/ how pleased they were/ to be watching
my things/
like my wind up jewel box with the
lonely ballerina inside/ or the space module that
looped the loop on its track/ or my little brother's
wooden putt putt train/ or my yellow ball with
glitter on it / that looked like vomit/ or my chrissy
doll or make'o'cool candle/ or my big book of
australian mammals/ coca cola yoyo/ silly putty
or my cities of kens & barbies/ who rubbed their
plastic torsos against each other/ with their
pants around their ankles/
or my april shower &
woody woodpecker who bashed each other up/ & bugs
bunny who sat on top of my wardrobe/ chewing a foam
carrot between plastic teeth/ & his laughing at the
lot of us/ as the bugs bunny alarm clock went off/
what's up doc?/ & slime/ & tetha tennis isa lota
fun/ & a pink & purple wire thing with beads on
the tips which kept toppling over/
or my magic
rocks or my sea monkeys/ or ludo/ wacky races/
monopoly/ draughts/ & poker cards with nude women
on the back/ & the plastic pen with the red dress
that dropped off/ or marble head & kerplunk & my
planet of the apes comics & mask/ i have just
described some of my best friends apart from my
dog/
one of the children/ left out of my games for
too long/ reached in to touch/ to change/ the
direction/ in which one of my dolls/ cindy/ who
is my friend/ was walking/ i saw an arm/ reaching
in/ i grabbed it by the elbow/ & dug my nails in/
i told my other playmate/ to stop pushing over the
house/ where my wizard of oz dolls lived/ & she
knocked it down/ & was soon toppling my sunshine
family off their bikes/ i gave her a bloody nose/
& then squeezed some glue on their fronts/
& then
took them out/ into the backyard where the pool
had stood/ & filled their pants with sand/ & then
hosed them down & made them cry/ & made them
laugh & made them cry again/ & then i gave them
a drink/ & just as i was about to put them to bed/ their
mothers came to collect them/ i never saw them again/
but i got into preschool on a special certificate/ my
mother said/ i couldn't mix with other children/ but
i tried to tell her/ that i was only playing with them | 
