Buddhist Barbie

Denise Duhamel

Duhamel was born in 1961 and teaches creative writing at Florida International University. One critic says, "More than any other poet I know, Denise Duhamel, for all the witty, polished surface of her poems, communicates the ache of human existence."
She uses Barbie as an icon and a way of commenting on her view of contemporary society. In this poem she supposes Barbie’s view of the teachings of the Buddha.



 
In the Fifth century B. C.
Gautama the Indian Philosopher
Teaches all is emptiness
And there is no self
In the Twentieth  century
Barbie agrees
But wonders how a man with
Such a belly
Can pose smiling and without a shirt
 

copyright by Denise Duhamel