An Homage to Franz Kafka

A little girl Liselotte lost her favorite doll, just before Kafka,
hauling his burdens, met her weeping in the park.

Though he looked for the doll, helped Liselotte search again
the next day, the outcome remained stark.

Then Kafka pulled out a letter for Liselotte handwritten
by Belinda her doll saying “Please don’t feel all is dark,

I’ve taken a trip to see the world. Now, I must tell you about eating
cake the size of a castle with His Majesty the King of Denmark.”

At each visit Kafka shared the doll’s animated words. Liselotte grew
transfixed, her brave Belinda was sailing in a sea with sharks.

Finally, Kafka came back bearing the doll (newly bought).
“It doesn’t look like my Belinda at all, her hair, far too dark.”

But Kafka was the wizard of story plots, the wise
brother prodding his little sister’s spirit to spark.

He simply took out another letter. In it Belinda made clear,
“My travels have changed me, left their mark.”

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About the author
Elane Gutterman recently published her first poetry collection, Tides of Expectation: Memoir Poems. Her latest poems have appeared in Kelsey Review, The Ekphrastic Review, The Fib Review, and Shot Glass Journal. She is Chair of the Literary Arts Committee at the West Windsor Arts Center, where she is also a founding board member.