I am a patchwork doll
Made of exquisite colored pieces of experience
Not a patchwork quilt that lays flat
Before it cocoons a sleeper
But a doll, bumpy and crooked
With bulges and corners and recesses
Button eyes of curiosity, smile of wisdom
Multilayered skirt of a multilayered life
A mosaic of colors
A fragment of a pink baby blanket
Torn strips from torn jeans
Shiny sequined pieces from an evening gown
Black lace from a funeral dress
White lace from a wedding veil
Ballet tutu, sports t shirt
Tomatoes from an apron
Stripes and zigzags and solid blue
The colors of life, the colors of living
Bulky arms and legs, woolen hair
Cloth shoes to dance and run in
Sometimes loved and cuddled
Sometimes abandoned in a dark corner
Stuck in a chair, thrown in the air
Juggled and cuddled, squeezed and hugged
Watching you, loving you,
Storer of memories
Play with me, I’ll play with you
Your patchwork doll in a patchwork world.
Anita Raturi 