Generation plastic pearl

Generation plastic pearl

I kicked over a hedgehog
bringing you lamb, gardenias, pears.
You wiped up my tears with kitchen cloth
and sat me down on the stairs.

My milk bottle legs stuck out from under my skirt
you said some things but I only remember ‘it could have been worse’,
we flicked through wildlife magazines
found some pictures of a frog

which looked like you.
All that silent grooming you did over my ears
did the same good as the years I spent with my sisters,
and I knew that the next time I looked in the mirror
my eyes might not make like piss-holes in snow.