NaPoWriMo2021

Day 6 – April 6, 2021 

Here is the prompt for today:

Go to a book you love. Find a short line that strikes you. Make that line the title of your poem. Write a poem inspired by the line. Then, after you’ve finished, change the title completely.

I tried to think of a book I have read recently, or at least as an adult, I have read many that I have loved, but one book from childhood jumped to mind. The book that comes to mind, still sits in a bookcase in my house, it is The Best Loved Doll by Rebecca Caudill. Published in 1962. The author lived, at least for a time in Urbana, Illinois twin city to the town I currently call home.

Jennifer’s Wig Was Loose

Only The Inside Matters

I easily picture the hardcover book

with the mostly lavender cover

I remember all the illustrations

and much of the story.

Was it because I shared the name Jennifer

with one of the four beloved dolls

Or because Jennifer was not perfect

she was not even close

She was not the prettiest doll

nor was the oldest doll

she could not do much of anything

and her dress was a fright

How then could it be true

that she was the best loved doll

with an eye that wouldn’t open

and a crooked smile

Because her looks didn’t matter

her lack of expensive clothes

and her inability to do many things

were not the attributes she was judged by

She was kind and generous

glad when others accomplished things

only as a child could I believe

an inanimate object to be selfless

But I believed that about that doll

who gave me hope that I could be

far less than perfect

and still be loved.