“The Inventive Décor” by Cheryl McPhilimy

Their little Audrey played dolls all alone.


Upstairs she went with a dried-out soup bone.


To make a wishing well. The Watsons smiled,


Their daughter, a shy but ingenious child,


Had just turned eight and made barely a sound.


She’d built a dollhouse out of things she’d found.


A tin can shower, earring chandelier,


A table made from a bicycle gear,


A pillow stuffed with hair from her head,


Curtains of gum wrappers stitched up with thread.


She tiled the tiny kitchen floor using


Teeth that her baby brother was losing.


When Sasha, the Watson’s white poodle, went


Missing, they searched high and low until spent.


Small Audrey retired pretending to bawl.


Her dolls had new carpeting, wall to wall.

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About Cheryl McPhilimy

Cheryl McPhilimy is a writer and communication consultant in Chicago. As a kid, she wished the PBS MYSTERY! programs were more like the opening titles.