The Pink Car is in My Head

--- For Hilary ---

The pink car is in my head,

parked there next to Barbie’s house,

the one I assembled Christmas Eve of 85

because she wanted it, had to have it, Barbie did,

that house, sparsely furnished, and a car,

“Barbie needs a car,” a pink car.

The car sits empty now, there in my head,

and the house, too, empty, Barbie’s house and mine;

she moved away and bought her own car –

a red one – and her own house with Ken and Skipper,

and the pink car, parked in my head,

is all I have left.