Perhaps you are too young
I don’t even know  

where I saw this image
lodged in my memory.  

I even forgot about it
until today. The story  

of a blue velvet ribbon
wrapped around the neck  

of a baby or perhaps
it was just a doll. Unravel  

the ribbon to reveal stitches
not strong enough to hold  

because the head promptly
plops off. Not rolls nor tumbles.  

No blood. Just a beheaded baby
without its blue ribbon.  

And I know I was the one  

to pull. I still feel the velvet
between thumb and forefinger.