Paper Doll by Robin Gow

give me the cut / out / garment /

in a 2-D / chapel / thinner / 

than thin / I win / whimsy /

by bartering / width / my chin 

straight / forward / girls gone /

shoulder / to shoulder / bare 

for years / dreaming / girth 

pursing my / lips / printing 

purses like / stamps / sell me 

as the whole / set / collection /

corkscrew / briefcase / hours spent 

on a train / plane / trolley /

mothering till flat / leavened / or lead

we lay / stacked / deck of cards /

joker / joker / joker / turn a page /

and the self / spun / blank / 

a glimpse of air / could undo / me

cutting along / line / linkage 

to marbled / journal / pressing

necklace / to thumb / I held 

my breath to keep / my clothes on /

what I wouldn’t give / to print /

another / form / figure 

Robin Gow is a trans and queer poet and YA/MG author from rural Pennsylvania. They are the author of several poetry collections, an essay collection, and a YA novel in verse, A Million Quiet Revolutions.