Drift Forever
March 22, 2025 5:11 pm #poem#photography
A doll head on the grate
Visual description
A plastic doll head lies on its side atop a metal street grate. The pale face has bright pink lips and large, dark eyes that stare upward. Tangled hair is mixed with dried leaves and small debris. A crushed aluminum can and other bits of litter sit nearby, scattered across the gritty surface of the grate.
Once loved,
Cradled by small hands.
A child who cared,
Then lost her and vanished.
The doll remains: just a head on the grate.
Run over by drivers who didn't care,
Who forgot the moment they passed.
I saw her. And stopped.
Felt a quiet sadness,
Imagined the life she once had.
Took a photo, the only memory she has left:
Now she drifts among trillions of forgotten images.
You saw her, and forgot as life goes on.
One day, You'll forget me, too.
And I'll drift beside this head,
Forever on the Internet.
-- Thad Ferguson