Stephanie Sutter

Faces Made In China

Stephanie Sutter

Little button eyes On faces made in China Glued on sunken sockets Rimmed with shadowed worry Peering ambiguously Nowhere in particular Four button holes but None that can seem to see anything Plastic skin that glistens Beneath a toxic bulb That might just melt the flesh right off Revealing too much on the inside Must stay on the shelf To look pretty and useless Placed neatly amongst the other teacups All in a row: one, two, three. Lips that crack like the Too thin handles of delicate China When there comes a time To use words Too dainty for our anxious fingers Is all that has value All that is porcelain Like the Scriptures or the time tablesFaces made in China Of fine detail and worth Crack and break too easily A button loosed too easily Parts not made of quality Seams not made of dignity Expressions of humanity Destroyed by a society