Scenes from the PlayroomNow Lucy with her family of dolls Disfigures Mother with an emery board, While Charles, with match and rubbing alcohol, Readies the struggling cat, for Chuck is bored. The young ones pour more ink into the water Through which the latest goldfish gamely swims, Laughing, pointing at naked, neutered Father. The toy chest is a Buchenwald of limbs. Mother is so lovely; Father, so late. The cook is off, yet dinner must go on With onions as her only cause for tears She hacks the red meat from the slippery bone, Setting the table, where the children wait, Her grinning babies, clean behind the ears.R.S. Gwynn
About This Quote
The use of the word “babies” in the poem below is an indication of the age of the children involved. These children are too young to be "babies" and so the use of the term is interesting. The poem is a parody of a dinner table scene and seems to imply that Charles and Lucy are indeed babies and Mother is their lonely caretaker. The entire poem seems to be based on a child's view of his or her family and perhaps the most important person in that child's life, such as a parent.
The mother seems to be considered very important by her children, but they seem to feel that Charles and Lucy are lacking in some way, perhaps because they aren't as beautiful as Mother or they aren't as clever as Father. This is why the children are trying to make Charles and Lucy more beautiful by first making them into dolls. This can be seen as an attempt to make Lisa more beautiful by making her into something else, perhaps a doll.
Moreover, this could also be viewed as an attempt to make Mother more beautiful by making her into something else, perhaps a baby doll. Both are attempts to improve Mother's looks, but it is hard to tell whether or not these attempts are successful or not or whether it is simply because she has two beautiful daughters instead of one beautiful daughter.
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