REVENGE BY PROXY

2013 UNICEF PRIZE FOR BEST POETRY


she pounded the rag doll with her tiny gnarled fists
then, grabbing it by its foot, slapped it hard
against the tree trunk, again and again
calling her 'you dirty little slut, will you ever learn?'

then she whimpered and stuttered
'if ... if ... I hurt you so, it is...
because I have no one else.'

for a while, her attention was drawn by the distant cooing
of a bird and she searched for it above her head
spinning it every which way she could
in the hope it would land on the palm of her hand
and keep her company, but the cooing went on
and still the caller remained invisible

her heart shrivelled with despair and remembering
the existence of the rag doll, hanging from her fingers,
she walked around the clearing and picked up a thorn
which she ruthlessly stuck between its eyes
then through its nostrils and finally,
with a lurid twinkle in her look, inside its vagina
'here, so that you will never be able to have a baby,
you nasty piece of work, you ozone destroyer.'

from where the cooing had originated now she heard
the twitter of nestlings, how many could they be,
maybe four, maybe as many as a whole score?
and again she stood puzzled
they kept up their racket for a long time
'their parents must have flown away to fetch them
some food, worms and flies and other insects'
then of a sudden silence fell over the wooded cliff

'I'm getting hungry,' she thought and rummaged among
the underbrush until she found berries
or what looked like berries, so fleshy and red they were
‘you can starve!' she said to the rag doll
as she began popping the beautiful round fruits into her mouth
and while she ate, her mouth dripping with juice,
she rubbed a berry along the rag doll, smearing it first
all over the face and then fiercely between its legs
‘momma never wanted me as a child’, she said
in a garbled voice 'so why should I be kind to you?'

the little girl and her rag doll were found dead the next morning