His black marble eyes,
cracked as a satellite crashed in the night,
have filed in their dark, quiet mirrors
the memories of my childhood.

His threaded smile–
frayed, crooked, loosened–
is finally lost in the matting
of faux fur; fine fur, nearly bare,
scarce from reckless, prying hands.

Neither of us see very clearly now.

We are world-beguiled,
filled with fluff and shovings,
though our voices are tangled
in rusted cotton.

Beneath his museum expression:
“What have I become?”

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David Perry has been published in three academic arts journals. He is the illustrator for Emmy-winning Nickelodeon writer Max Beaudry’s Papercutz graphic novel, “Aw, Nuts!.” He lectures at Indiana University – Indianapolis.