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Karen Noll

© 2003

Ella

She asked me the other day
if I would help her dress
like a diva.

She is six.

I looked up diva in my Webster’s
expecting something sexual.
I got something about the opera
and a prima donna.

So I looked up prima donna.
I got something about being a temperamental and conceited woman.|

Ella and I went shopping at Savers to find her some diva clothes.
She picked out black patent leather shoes with platforms and
heels.
They were the right size.

She also picked out lavender stretch pants
with two white stripes down the side
and bit of a flare at the hem.
They hit her at about mid calf.
“Aren’t they a bit tight, Ell?” I asked in the dressing room.
“No,” she was turning left and right in the mirror, her chin
always angled slightly down
and resting on one shoulder
or the other.

I noticed that there was a picture of
Dora the Explorer
near the hem of one leg.

My diva and I drove home with the
lavender pants and platform shoes to look
for the Strawberry Shortcake
sunglasses with
reflective lenses that she felt quite sure were in the
Hello Kitty backpack on her desk.