Juliet Cook (Ohio, USA): "Mass Production"

MASS PRODUCTION

1.
You can also get a tub of that size
filled with tiny debutantes. Not even talking
Cool Whip tub. Talking bigger, more durable
plastic with bright label affixed,
haphazardly stuffed with little wannabe queens,
fresh from the assembly line. That new car smell,
that pink approximation of bendable legs
under flammable dance dress. Molten plastic core.
Interchangeable whores with poseable tiaras.

2.
The screw is rotated by a motor, feeding pellets
up the screw’s grooves. The depth of the screw decreases
towards the end of the screw nearest the mold,
compressing the heated plastic. As the screw rotates,
the pellets are moved forward in the screw
and they undergo extreme pressure and friction
which generates most of the heat needed
to melt the pellets. Heaters on either side of the screw
assist in the heating and temperature control.

3.
You can also get a plastic whip, that new car friction,
pink grooves haphazardly stuffed with Cool Whip.
Of course some of them aren’t even good enough for the back seat.
The list of defects includes: blister, burn marks, color streaks,
silver streaks, delamination, embedded contaminants, stringiness, voids, warping,
weld lines, and splay marks. Her legs won’t bend back any farther
and the nozzle hasn’t even shot its load. Little wannabe whores
should bleach their assholes, the inverse of the product’s shape.
Compress the heated plastic, scream like a size queen, burst into flame.

© Juliet Cook 2008