Kelly Lorraine Andrews
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​Barbie Escape

Lisa, Courtney, and Heather are driving
a pink convertible, top down, across a brown
carpet desert. They stop at The Bed Post
bar and Ken is outside in his beach shorts
and mesh crop top, muscles bulging, as usual.
I’ve always been attracted to artificial women
Heather hears him tell some basic Barbie
with a missing shoe and crookedly cut hair. 
Being in a relationship with a synthetic means
that the organic is taking a stand against loneliness.
And she rolls her eyes with the other girls.
He was only ever good at pressing his body 
in one position and even then he wouldn’t look
her in the eye. A lot of other men are lonely
because they don’t meet women’s expectations.
Most people don’t believe me when I say
I’ve never experienced an orgasm. Courtney
drives the women away, their hair blowing. Heather
plots to fill Ken’s pillow, which is lovely and soft,
but was prone to tearing, with ketchup. Maybe
she will get her own synthetic lover. She heard
on the news that they will never lie to you, 
cheat on you, criticize you, or be otherwise 
disagreeable. She’d like that in a high-end love doll.

Note: Italicized text is taken from The Atlantic article “Married to a Doll: Why One Man Advocates Synthetic Love.”

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KELLY LORRAINE ANDREWS' poems have appeared or are forthcoming in PANK, Prick of the Spindle, SELFISH, and Love Me, Love My Belly, among others. She is the author of the chapbooks "I Want To Eat So Many Kinds of Cake With You" (forthcoming, Dancing Girl Press) and "Mule Skinner" (Dancing Girl Press, 2014). She coedits the online journals Pretty Owl Poetry and Hot Metal Bridge, and you can find additional information about her publications along with a slideshow of her cats at kellyandrewspoetry.com.