California Doll

California Doll

All dressed up
patiently waiting
for a child
who is moldering outside

Melancholy notes
in rooms set up
to help the curious
glimpse the past.

Dolls more than hairbrushes
bring back the laughter and tears
of other days.

Children and childhoods
gone.

Only the stuff of memory remains

poem by Ellouise Schoettler - 2007
photo by Ellouise Schoettler - 2007