Apple Face
Aunt Brenda’s dolls sit
alone, a hundred
eyes wall the attic.
Their porcelain grows
dusty yet shines—
all fresh hope
broken—as cracks
of yellow light pierce
glowing shades and echo.
White faces painted
pink with blush look
at the dim world waiting
for their apple-faced doll
owner to return.
So does Mamaw
as she patiently sits
alone downstairs
staring at the same dim
on the shiny white walls
listening for ghosts
of floorboard creaks.
Katelyn Dunne is an alumna of University of the Cumberlands. She hails from and currently resides in Chicago, Illinois. Previously, she has been a Managing Editor at The Drowning Gull, Associate Editor at Zoetic Press, and Student Editor at Pensworth. Her writing and artwork have been published in Pensworth, The Albion Review, NonBinary Review, Aurora, The Poetry Marathon Anthology, and several of Z Publishing’s anthologies. In her spare time, she enjoys attending Catholic mass, eating vegetarian entrees, teaching a classroom of enthusiastic toddlers, and working as a children’s librarian.
Pensworth 