"Do Paper Dolls Still Exist?" by Rigoberto Gonzalez
I love the imagery in this poem so much. And I think it's referencing "Right Where You Left Me." There are a few lines in the poem that point to the song - "no one knows you never / left" and "You'll regret / not tearing away like that / brave woman did, you're sure of it. / How she smiled in triumph as she / swift past your frozen stare. You, / fixture on the wall. She, unbridled flair." Matching, of course, with the lines in the song, "Help, I'm still in the restaurant / Still sitting in the corner I haunt."
While Taylor's being left at the restaurant is metaphorical, I love how the poet changed the main character into the subject of a painting - "Picture yourself pressed flat / on a canvas, each brushstroke a cry / for freedom because you're still / trapped in the small box of his affection / and no one's going to cut your loose / because no one knows you never / left." It's such a creative way to respond to the song that builds an entirely new world, separate from the song.
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