Jacques Wély, French
Even When She Was a Baby, Cinderella’s Evil Stepmother Wouldn’t Let Her Go To the Ball, 1906
Oil on canvas
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/// This Young Mother with Ball-Playing Girl,
watched her child make a huge twelve-inch hurl.
Until it stopped rolling,
Mom helped by controlling
when they’d try giving “fetch it” a whirl.
/// Daughter threw the sphere further this time,
then she tried to retrieve it and I’m
very glad her pursuit
was a ball, not the fruit
(which is famously so hard to rhyme).
/// They’re both dressed to look good and be seen,
but pure white is so hard to keep clean.
With her next toss, alas,
the ball rolled on the grass
and the child’s dress is now partly green.
/// Celestine dropped a ripe tangerine
on the ground, which is not very clean.
Maman found it revealing
that she’d bite without peeling,
despite seeing just where it had been.
/// The baby doll’s movements relied
on some levers its clothing could hide.
Puppeteers work these things
by the pulling of strings
or by thrusting their hands up inside.