Jennifer Lagier

Me & My Baby
Inspired by a Shari Langer photo with the same name

Sepia toddler with flyaway curls
wears checked gingham, bejeweled Mary Janes,
clutches her cloth dolly by one tubular arm.
Chin down, face askance, she evades camera lens.

Beyond this frame, her mother
exerts insistent influence,
flings sharp orders that penetrate,
leave permanent wounds.

Pain shadows the little girl’s eyes.
She knows if she fidgets
or musses her clothes,
harsher reprimands will descend.

Stereotypical presentation is the point.
She is as powerless as her yarn-haired baby,
a near-infant being groomed to attract a mate,
care for a flesh and blood child.