When my mother was little, her Aunt Georgia
sent a Dolly Dingle paper doll with clothes to change,
along with a story poem about Dolly.
When I was a girl, my sister and I cut out ladies
from the Sears catalogue, then chose catalogue clothes
for them to wear. Gloria’s doll was named Luanne.
When granddaughter Kate was here we played paper dolls
with a kit gifted by friend Lynne, who has lots of granddaughters.
The two cardboard girls have stands so they can model
what we cut out for them–dresses, rompers, costumes.
Kate drew a backdrop for them from a file folder,
then cast them in a video skit of knock-knock jokes,
complete with her mother’s laugh track in the background.