From One Stuffed Animal to Another

Hello down there.
I see you
get to sit
on the bed.
Your human took over
my human’s room.
Are you happy?

Let me give you a little lesson.
Don’t get too attached to her.
She’ll lose those pink cheeks,
innocent blue eyes,
and her big smile one day.
Her childhood stage will pass.

She’ll love you
only for a while.
She will tell people
you are her best friend
and nobody else’s.

She’ll trick you
into thinking
you’ll be together
forever.
She’ll dress you up,
she’ll give you
a seat in the back of the car
with her.
You’ll be brought to school,
and if you’re lucky enough,
she’ll never let you go.

You’ll have tea parties,
and you’ll be given the food she hates
as if you’re a real dog.
Sometimes, if she’s ever afraid she’ll hurt you,
she’ll wrap your paw
in toilet paper,
thinking that’s the best bandage
in the house.

My favorite feeling was her arms
around me,
and that’ll be yours too.
She’ll hug you tight
like dirt hugging a flower’s roots.
You’ll fight the monsters
under her bed,
and scare away the ghosts
in her closet.
You’ll sleep by her head
whenever she has a nightmare.

I believed she loved me
just as you believe her sister loves
you.
But then she got older.
Her sister will get older
too.
You’ll watch her
change her sheets
from child’s pink
to adult’s purple
from a shelf above her head.
She’ll reach the age
when she stacks college acceptance letters
in the corner
instead of stuffed animals.
One day,
your stuffed animal friends will begin to disappear.
Will they be given to charity?
Thrown away?
You’ll never find out.
You won’t even worry about it.
You’ll be too busy hoping
you’re not next.

The thing that’ll break
your white stuffed heart
the most
is when she gets an animal.
Not another stuffed animal
like you
but an actual dog.

As she plays
with this new real dog,
you’ll be forgotten.
She won’t say your name
anymore.
The only one
who’ll be there to remember it
is you.
You’ll collect dust,
and your fabric will lose
it’s rich, chocolate color
and fade into a gray.
The holes in your fabric
will never be fixed.

She may clean her room
as she gets ready to move.
She’ll find you,
smile,
and pet
your fabric.
Your heart will race.
She loves you again!
But that’s what you think.
She won’t think this.
Instead,
you’re put back on the shelf
and she leaves the room
without another glance.

Now,
my stuffed friend,
if you don’t want to listen to me,
then that’s okay.
Enjoy her tight hugs
while you can.
I hope you’ll always stay
in her arms.
I can’t bear to see you
put on the dusty shelf
of the forgotten
alongside me.