The Poet at Your Inauguration
Do you hear him? The poet at your inauguration
praises your ugly words. The blunt, heavy
bludgeon of your vulgar diction battering away
at what is intricate, delicate, carefully wrought.
Your poet calls you beautiful as you lash out
at beauty, as you drunkenly vomit out words.The poet at your coronation praises your cunning.
The sharp, sly compliments you pay out when obeyed,
hiding a knife behind that gloating smile, ready to turn
those words of reward into an execution. Your poet
calls you honest as you twist and distort and deny.The poet at your divination praises your blasphemy.
The self-righteous fire you exhale like a flamethrower,
starting a bonfire of holy texts, rewriting your sacrilege
and calling it sacred, raising the golden idol
of your depravity and calling it predestined. Your poet
calls you faithful as you burn the temples down.The poet who praises you, kneels to you, prays to you—
do you see him? The poet who believes in you
is standing by your side.
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Written by Amy Wray Irish.
Amy Wray Irish has hope for a better tomorrow, thanks to the new poets she meets at every open mic. Website: amywrayirish.com
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Sophomore Year Anthropology
We spoke of bones:
splintered ones, cracked and warped--
shelves of skulls scaled the walls,
sockets daring us to make light of staring
as they watched between rows of ribs
splayed for easy viewing.
We studied the cancer in marrow that slowly kills us
like how mistletoe strangles trees from the inside;
how to find it postmortem,
prying past the degeneration.I started seeing skeletons in strangers
like I could diagnose their decay,
hands wringing as I recited the femur, the orbital, the spine;
I learned that ways of life reside in bones:
we find tension in the carpal of writers,
weight in the clavicle of mothers.
We carry ourselves on the shoulders
of skeletons that came before us,
pass bones like batons when we lose
what liberty it is to live.
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Written by Alexis Barton.
Alexis Barton is a poet and student at Kennesaw State University. Her work can be found in The Listening Eye, Sheepshead Review, and more.
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Terre Haute
Coming into town at dusk, I hail
The parched yards;
Sunken lots;
And cratered chain link fences guarding little;
The grain bins,
Man's gray answer to hunger,
Braving all winds;
The movie-theater-butter-orange
Of lamppost light—
Salty, incriminating, drinkable;
Even the gravel beneath the railroad tracks
Sleeping soiled and ripe to become dust.
Like old friends, they greet my bus good evening
Each in their rough-mannered ways.
Their smiles are missing teeth.Looking the picture of a mismatched couple
Of one count embittered and another gentle lover,
Joins the river whose name I don't know—
Water glossy as a glass-block window
And glistening tadpole-green.
And on the surface rests reflected
Swaying dusk-lit branches
Piercing the tangerine clouds that cushion them—
Wood so richly, deeply brown
As to be almost purple.Next in the welcome party,
The children of industry and river,
Taking after both mothers:
The streets and the alleys,
And every stoop, door, building, and sign—
Each one flowing, stopping, crumbling
As it knows it should.Now as though this weren't enough
To make me fall in love with this little city,
As we round the corner, I come to discover that
The courthouse sports a clocktower,
And against the pink and black of newborn night,
The clock face floats electric blue.And finally, in a neighborhood my bus uncovers—
In a house I can see the inside of
Better than anything outdoors
Because it is now so dark—
A family I'll never meet sits together
In the brightest living room in human history,
Legs raised on every available surface,
None afraid to touch another,
Watching the game.* * *West of the Mississippi, I bet they like to use
The word "vast,"
But for my part of the country,
"Empty" is more apt.
Our kind, we are the masters of empty.
We brew empty dark and sweet.
We make it awfully potent
So it steams handsomely in our cups
And hurts like a motherfucker to swallow.
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Written by Ty Zhang.
Ty Zhang (he/him) is a Thai-American law student, writer, and political organizer based in Ohio. He writes poetry, prose, and screenplay.
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The Bus Stop
I’m staring into space at the red light,
The bus stopped ahead of me.
I’m hoping it will move soon,
Dreading the hassle of lane changes or backed up cars if it doesn’tWhen I notice a young man running across six lanes of traffic,
Frantically waving his hands at the back of the bus, hoping it will wait.The brake lights go off, the turn signal goes on.
He’s still running, scrambling now through last night’s fallen snow.Caught in the drama, I cry, “Wait, wait,” though the bus driver can’t hear me either.
“Hold on, hold on” I grimace as the bus begins to angle into the lane.But then the brake lights come back on.
The bus door opens. He clambers up the steps.
And I cheer in my car.Most days, it feels like we live in a lonely world, heads down, earbuds in
But sometimes, we still look up,
Tell the driver someone’s coming,
Pull over and wait, even if we’re behind schedule.
And whether we know it or not,
A stranger somewhere is sitting in traffic,
Rooting for us to make it.
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Written by Rhonda Hattar.
Makes a living teaching college Biology. Makes a life writing and raising children, chickens, and vegetables on a homestead in the High Plains of Colorado.
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The Salesman of the Year
------boofed two mollies
& while we’re caged in a windowless hotel ballroom,
------developing a formula for more money,
he’s bouncing around bright casino lights,
------floating through cocktail waitresses
& zombified slot players, spanking a craps thrower
------in a wrist brace & pissing into the Mississippi
with a bum who got trapped here after Katrina
------& hasn’t seen his wife since she died.So, the Salesman of the Year hugs him
------with a bump of coke & a beer,
& they watch the cargo ships blink off
------into the foggy, polluted delta,
while we argue fluorescently with white little mints
------& white boards & non-toxic markers
you couldn’t huff to kill a braincell—------& still, we haven’t found the formula.We lost it somewhere,
------down by the dark, friendly pier.
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Written by Paul Zammit.
Paul writes professionally as a product marketing manager for an enterprise software company. He makes amends by writing poetry.
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‘two little sunflowers’
I promise myself that one day, I will stop tending to you,
one day,
----------and from day one of this grieving,
I have found places and spaces and continued to make room
--------------------------------------------------------------for you.I write poems the way I plant gardens, with the same lessons I learned from you,
-------------by looming and peering and ---- untethering ---- roots.
I---------down on aching knees for you,
get--------crack calcified, knobbly knuckles to make indents in the dirt
-------------------like bite marks that surround---------------------------------you.Darling, I watched and I learned from you
how to take care of a thing or two.
I watched the veggies and the ivy grow, winding ‘round white iron gates
-------knew the way your teeth itched as with spring, in they came.
I watched you trim -------back their stems,
-----------------------------------sheer away offending thorns,
------and kiss their forehead full of sunflower seeds to tell them “that’ll do, that’ll do.”And darling, darling,
------now look at you:
----------------------lilting petals and curling leaves, you,
----------------------decorated clay pot, and artisanal soil, you.
Call me cruel, for the want to rewild you,
to douse my hands in your earth; to carve space in and around
-------------------------------------you.
It is cold, this replanting by fridgid December air.
It is lonely, the rerooting to a field for only -------two of us to share.Two little sunflowers, waiting to be in bloom.
Maybe to take up this much space was cruel of me to expect
--------------------------------------------------------------------------from you.
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Written by Korey Ruhnow.
Korey is a queer writer from Richmond, Virginia. When not writing, they’re usually bouncing between craft projects or discussing their friends’ end-of-life plans.
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Drama
1. EMERGENCY MEETING
2. Our Girl
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EMERGENCY MEETING
CAST OF CHARACTERS:DEER: Female. Nervous, dramatic, and focused. Dislikes COYOTECOYOTE: Male. Whiny, annoying, and sly. Dislikes DEERWOLF: Male. Disinterested, calm, and calculating.TIME: The present.SETTING: A forest in Northern ColoradoLights up on a forest backdrop. DEER is alone onstage, pacing.DEER: Come on, Coyote, come on. Please please the one time it’s important.COYOTE enters and strikes a pose.COYOTE: You called?DEER: Well speak of the devil and he shall appear.COYOTE: Don’t flatter yourself, darling, I was in the area. You look…great…by the way.DEER: Your flattery isn’t any better.COYOTE: No, you actually do look okay. It’s just more fun to make you second-guess.DEER: If you’re done being a little jerk there is something I desperately need to talk to you about.COYOTE: So should I just leave then? Cuz that ain’t happening.DEER: I would ask why I even bother but there is a very important reason I have to deal with you today, of all days.COYOTE: Cool, just make it quick. Gotta go oversee the guys, they’re ‘bout to make some kills and celebrate. I’d invite you but I don’t think you’d like all the blood, you know, the ugly side of things?DEER: Such is the circle of life. And thanks for the not-invite.COYOTE: Anytime.DEER: So I think you’d rather hear it from me.COYOTE: Hear what?DEER: That your little yips are going to be overtaken by some big howls.COYOTE: Unfortunately you lost me at the one part where I stopped caring, and – wait, big howls? What does that mean?DEER: Well for starters, you can’t call that silly little bark a howl.COYOTE: It’s not little!DEER: It is when you compare it to the new guy.COYOTE: New guy…?DEER: The “big bad” new guy.COYOTE: See, when you try to be funny it kind of comes off as pathetic and sad.DEER: This is serious. I don’t know how or why, but it returned to Colorado. The balance is off. And I need you to do something about it.COYOTE: “It”?DEER: Him.COYOTE: Alright, this has been a fun little bit, you pulling my leg and all. It was good, it really was…COYOTE starts walking offstage in the direction where WOLF has just entered. DEER notices WOLF and she becomes wide-eyed with fear. COYOTE is oblivious.COYOTE (cont.) …But you gotta have some evidence before you start saying nonsense trying to pass it off as a prank -- Sees WOLF – (speaks hurriedly) -- because if you just say something stupid people might believe it right off the bat and not realize you’re joking with them and that was a funny joke and I’m going to go laugh about it somewhere else and –COYOTE tries to hurry past DEER but she yanks him back by the scruff of the neck.DEER: Get over here!COYOTE: (yelps) Easy there! What’s your problem?DEER: Him! (points at WOLF)WOLF: (Yawns) Hello.COYOTE: He’s talking! He’s talking to us!DEER: Yeah! And he shouldn’t be because there aren’t supposed to be any Wolves in Colorado!WOLF: Nice place.COYOTE: Couldn’t agree with ya more, buddy. I’m gonna head back to my place which is not here and – (tries to leave)DEER: Nope! (grabs him)COYOTE: Rats.DEER: Do something, Mr. Big Bark.COYOTE: Hey, that is not what -WOLF: You, you’re a Coyote, yeah?COYOTE: M-me?WOLF: Yeah, we’ve got you back in our state. You guys are…kind of annoying.COYOTE: Woah, well not annoying here! I’ll pass the word along to not be annoying and to stay out of your way and to –DEER: That is the exact opposite of what you are going to do. You are going to make him leave because he will upset the balance!WOLF: On the contrary – word is the balance has been off here for quite some time.DEER: (To WOLF, nervously) I don’t know what you’re talking about! (To COYOTE) You really want this guy bringing his friends and taking over? (Pokes COYOTE in the chest.) You’re top dog around here!COYOTE: No I’m n - do you really mean that?DEER: You’re the best chance we’ve got.COYOTE: (Condescending) Oh so it’s a “we” now.DEER: Well right now we’re in this together.WOLF: I’m still here.COYOTE: (To DEER, ignoring WOLF) You don’t care about me, you’re just trying to save your own skin! You guys have free range and do whatever you want! You can just eat and poop and prance around and that’s it. I’ve gotta work for my food. You only tolerate us Coyotes cuz we don’t pose much of a threat.DEER: (Incredulous) You’re still a threat!COYOTE: That happens like once in a Blue Moon! Do you know how hard it is to get a group together to take down deer or elk?DEER: So just stick to mice and rabbits and whatever else you eat! Bugs? I don’t care! We’ve got mountain lions and other big predators to worry about - we don’t need another one!WOLF: Yo.COYOTE: And your numbers are still massive! They’re probably the largest they’ve been in a long while!WOLF: Pretty sure that’s why I’m here.DEER: See? They’re here for us!WOLF: Well yes and no.DEER: (Worried) Really?CCOYOTE: (Curious) Really?WOLF: It seems like the humans want us here to – nothing personal Ms. Deer – but to “thin the herd.”DEER faints and COYOTE half catches her, obviously having trouble holding her up.COYOTE: Geez! Pull yourself together!(COYOTE smacks DEER until she comes to. As she does, she is disoriented until she sees WOLF, and then promptly faints again)COYOTE: Oh come on!(COYOTE drops her and DEER tumbles to the ground. She takes a moment before she recovers, staggering back to her feet.)COYOTE: Whatever happened to “such is the circle of life”? I mean he has a point, there’s a lot of you.DEER: Remember when I said you’re annoying? Well not only that, but you’re mangey, you smell bad, you’ve got fleas and all it would take is some non-nutritious, chemical-laden piece of human junk food to domesticate your scraggly ass.COYOTE: (Scratching at his ear to itch implied fleas) I hope he eats you. Right here, right now. I’ll get the scraps and I won’t even feel bad about it.WOLF: Sorry, not gonna happen.COYOTE: (Worried) Really?DEER: (Curious) Really?WOLF: I mean it’s an option, but there’s also an easier option.COYOTE: You don’t say?WOLF: Mhm. Would you believe it, as part of our invitation the humans have feeding pens all set to go for us! Nice little welcome mat, dontcha think?COYOTE: Feeding pens? (Groaning) You mean a ranch.WOLF: Guess Colorado Coyotes aren’t as dumb as your cousins back home lil guy, yeah that’s exactly what it is! Ranches, farms, you name it. They’ve got lots of plump, tasty, fat black-and-white things that are super easy to kill.COYOTE: Speak for yourself, man. Ranches are a nightmare because if those inbred domesticated traitors don’t chase you off then the humans just shoot at you!WOLF: You get shot at? That’s funny, they can’t get me, I’m protected. (shows a National Park tracking tag worn on his chest or shoulder with pride)COYOTE: No fair!DEER: (Nervously) No fair at all. Uh, quick huddle!DEER and COYOTE form a small huddle by hunching together. WOLF can still see and hear them and acts both uninterested and confused.COYOTE: Okay you were right about this guy.DEER: Super entitled.COYOTE: Super unsettling.DEER: Super scary.COYOTE: And the humans are on his side! They won’t even shoot this guy and they set aside seasons to hunt us!DEER: Hypocrites.COYOTE: He’s gotta go.DEER: How?COYOTE: Great question…hang on. (pokes his head out of the huddle) Hey buddy!WOLF: What’s up?COYOTE: How many of you are there?WOLF: Should be a handful. I know the humans dropped in a pack of ten – we’re just North of you all up in Wyoming – so me and the missus thought we’d take a look and see what the hype is about. It’s nice, might have some pups and start our own pack. And –COYOTE: Cool! (Ducking back into the huddle) Crap crap crap.DEER: This is bad.COYOTE: Superbad.WOLF: I think it’s chill.COYOTE: So we gotta think of a way to get him out of here.DEER: What about that thing earlier?COYOTE: Huh?DEER: The feeding pen thing!COYOTE: Ranches, farms, what about ‘em?DEER: You said you get chased off, but he doesn’t?COYOTE: I dunno, everyone hates us Coyotes it seems. (Coyotes spoken “Kai-oats”)DEER: But the humans protect them?COYOTE: (Growling) Yeah, with guns and those filthy inbreds. What a life….they give you the dumbest name, put a collar on you, and… (Shudders)DEER: (Sideeyes WOLF) It’s the tag, right? If we get that tag off he’s not protected anymore?COYOTE: Good question. (Pokes his head up out of the huddle) Hey buddy!WOLF: I’m starting to think I’m not your buddy.COYOTE: If you don’t have that tag on, they can shoot you then, right?WOLF: (Looks at the tag) Uh, don’t think so. Apparently, we’re on the human’s endangered list so I think the tag is…a bit of a formality. They voted to bring us in and protect us and they’ll punish any human who tries.DEER: Damn, he’s got Wolf privilege.(Beat as COYOTE thinks)COYOTE: Wait, but they’re the ones who endangered you in the first place, right?DEER: Yeah, they used to hunt you guys! (Under her breath) Didn’t endanger them enough if you ask me.WOLF: Used to hunt us. That was back in the ‘40s, I guess they’ve changed their tune. (Breathes in deep and looks around) It’s good to be back.DEER: About that…COYOTE: Ooh! Idea! (pulls himself and DEER back to the huddle)DEER: Is it a good one?COYOTE: Yes! Well, maybe. But it might just work!DEER: I’m all ears.COYOTE: So the ranches don’t like it when we pillage, and I doubt it’s different when it’s a Wolf, especially since they can do more damage.DEER: Okay…COYOTE: So we just convince him to keep doing what he’s doing, and eventually the problem solves itself!DEER: Huh? How?COYOTE: Think about it. If he goes after all the domesticated stuff, he’s not going after Deer and Elk, nor is he encroaching on Coyote turf. Win number one. And if the humans don’t like that, then they do something about it and Win number two! No more big bad W.DEER: I like it.WOLF: Sounds like you’re trying to get rid of me?COYOTE: (sly) What? No! Noooo, quite the contrary!(The huddle breaks as COYOTE steps carefully toward WOLF and DEER lingers in the back, visibly nervous)COYOTE cont: We are quite happy you’re here and are ecstatic that the Humans have rolled out the welcome mat for you! That’s very thoughtful of them.WOLF: (Suspicious) Yeah…COYOTE: So nice meeting you and all but it sounds like the place for you and your missus is back up north with those feeding pens.WOLF: Yeah… (glances around) Just checking out what it’s like a little further South, haven’t seen too much of Colorado yet and –DEER: (Panicked) It’s all the same!COYOTE: (Panicked) Yep! Just lots of trees and mountains, and not any welcome mats down here since you came from up there! Go back North for the good stuff! (laughs nervously)WOLF: (Shrugs) Guess that makes sense. Well, it was nice meeting you both. I’ll have to introduce you to the missus sometime soon.COYOTE: Sometime…doesn’t have to be too soon!DEER: Or at all!COYOTE: But it would be nice…! (Gives DEER a “what are you doing” look)DEER: I mean, it would be nice to meet the whole family!COYOTE: Yes yes! When you have pups! Bring ‘em all down to meet Uncle Coyote!WOLF: Well I’ll run it by her first, but that would be fun indeed. Catch you all later! I’ll be around.WOLF exits. DEER and COYOTE share a simultaneous sigh of relief.COYOTE: Phew!DEER: You said it.COYOTE: (Cackles) How’s that for top dog?DEER: You are one crafty son-of-a-gun, I’ll give you that.COYOTE: Runs in the family. This town ain’t big enough for two Canis competitors. (Strikes a gunslinger pose) (Canis pronounced “Cane-us”)DEER: Pretty sure he’s a LupisCOYOTE: Tomato/Potato.DEER: So Wolves are coming down from Wyoming…COYOTE: Hey, as long as they stay further north, we’ll be fine.DEER: That’s a big “if”.COYOTE: Well I got him out of our hair for the time being, I’m pretty sure you owe me a thank you.DEER: Yeah, thanks for not screwing that up.COYOTE: Woah! Hey, you called me here, I would have loved to have seen you handle that by yourself.DEER: I’d like to see you tackle a ranch by yourself.COYOTE: I’d like to see you, uh, next season tagged and bagged you raggedy hag!DEER: You little prick!COYOTE: (Shaking his head) Shoulda never come here.DEER: I hope someone turns your hide into a hat!COYOTE and DEER storm off on opposite sides.END OF PLAY
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Written by Adam Budris.
When not story-crafting, Adam can be found slinging rpg dice or tending to a jungle of houseplants. He’s definitely not three gnomes in a trench coat.
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Our Girl
CHARACTERS:TIANA: Early 50s. A native of Queens, NY. Recently promoted to Colonel in the US Air Force.GEMMA: Mid-50s-60s. Native of London, England. A Senior Manager at Deloitte.PLACE: The living room of an expansive rental home in a northern San Antonio, Texas suburb. Unopened moving boxes are stacked around the space.TIME: A Saturday morning in late October.SYNOPSIS: Roles for two women over fifty, simple unit set. LGBTQ+ themes. Tiana and her wife of nine years, Gemma, are unpacking in their new home in San Antonio, where Tiana has been transferred to begin an exciting position. As they decide where to hang their favorite print, dubbed "Our Girl," Gemma reveals that she wants to move back to Atlanta, from where they just came, encouraging Tiana to quit her dream job. During these ten minutes, truths are told, leaving the audience wondering how love can survive when so much is at stake.Tiana adjusts the furniture. She has done this before. There is a confidence, even an almost rehearsed choreography, in how she places the furniture and in her subsequent unpacking. Box opening continues on and off throughout the action- until it doesn’t. There is an unpacking of the essentials: books, records, a box of shoes, picture frames with family photos, keepsakes, pots, pans, etc. A lifetime in each box.TIANA
So when I told the moving guy-- wait, wait, what was his name...Gemma? What was that moving guys name? Babe...Hello? What ya doing in there?GEMMA
(From off.) Leo. The moving guy’s name was Leo.Tiana finds a large picture moving box. From it, she pulls out Our Girl, a framed vintage print with the word “Atlanta” clearly visible. An image of a woman, circa 1950’s glamour, dominates the print. Delta Airlines is indicated along the bottom border.TIANA
Right. So when I told Leo this was our fifth move in the near decade we have been together, he shook his head and said he was glad his dad got out after his first tour. Said he could never leave San Antonio because of how much he loves the food here. But that we won’t get anything decent in this neighborhood. He said -- My advice: Never eat Mexican north of 410! Apparently, we have to go into town for tacos. That was not in the Air Force moving manual. (Holding up the print.) So where are we going to put Our Girl this time? Living or Dining?Gemma enters carrying a box marked “Halloween.”TIANA
What’s wrong?GEMMA
I just-- nothing. This only took forever to find. But it ended up being right there in front of me. Sitting atop the dresser.TIANA
Great. Did you talk to Ella? I she convinced you to head back next week for the big day. You know you have to see Amelia in the costume you made her. You Brits with scary costumes. I still can’t believe Ella and Geoff are letting their sweet-eyed darling 6-year-old daughter dress up like Freddy Krueger. I wish I could come but--GEMMA
--But you cannot, love. It is your coronation day. I am so proud of you, Tiana. You know that?TIANA
Can you believe it? Next week you’ll be married to an honest-to-god, fucking full-bird colonel!GEMMA
You deserve it. You really do—twenty-four years of hard labor and, finally, colonel. I knew you could do it. “You’ve come a long way, baby.”TIANA
I wonder if anyone else remembers that ad except us. We are getting old. I am glad I have you to grow old with. What? What is it, Gem?GEMMA
Getting sentimental, I suppose. So, what do you think?Gemma pulls out a child-size homemade Freddy Krueger costume.Too scary?TIANA
Terrifying. Did you ever consider Ursula, the Evil Stepmother, or how ‘bout Cruella DeVille?GEMMA
What about Freddy Mercury? Amelia is expecting a Freddy. Where is my sewing machine? This makes me bonkers. First, it’s the Halloween décor, then the sewing machine, and then where the hell is the closest Target?TIANA
One point three miles, I already checked. Look, I know you hate moving. So do I. But we will have everything settled before Monday...and once we find a place for Our Girl...okay. Somethings up. (Tiana sets down Our Girl.) What is it? Gemma? Babe?GEMMA
I just checked my email...when I was... (indicating off) Deloitte wants me back in Atlanta—no more remote work.TIANA
What? I can’t believe it! Shit. Fuck. God, now? Why now?GEMMA
We knew it was a possibility...post-pandemic...They are calling everyone back. (Beat.) Never mind. I am absolutely knackered. We should be celebrating. I bought prosecco. It’s here. Somewhere.She finds her shoulder bag and pulls out the bottle.I will just put it in the freezer for a bit to freshen up the chill.TIANA
Whoa. Slow down. We need to talk about this. Why can’t they just have you work at the San Antonio office? It’s right down the street.GEMMA
My team is not in San Antonio; you know that.TIANA
What about USAA? They would be lucky to have you. Surely they have remote positions if we do get reassigned to Tokyo.GEMMA
I’ll figure something out. I always do.TIANA
That you do. And I love you for it.A pauseGEMMA
Do you remember that antique sewing table?TIANA
The one we found on the side of the road? Sure. But what--GEMMA
--I loved that table. Why didn't we bring it, Tiana? When we left Atlanta the first time? When you were reassigned to Wright-Patt?TIANA
I don’t know. Space probably?GEMMA
Theseus used to sleep on top.TIANA
He was a good cat. He found his way, always in the front window. It took him a minute, though...kinda like you.GEMMA
Maybe we should get another cat.TIANA
It’s hard when we move. Theseus took the entire time to settle in. Then, we were off again. It just doesn’t seem fair to the animal.GEMMA
Okay. Sure. Right.TIANA
Gemma?GEMMA
Where the fuck is my fucking sewing machine?TIANA
I’ll find it.GEMMA
Tiana. Wait. (A beat.) I need a minute. I don’t know--TIANA
--You don’t know what?GEMMA
If I can do this again.TIANA
What?GEMMA
You said something about it to the moving guy. Five times in the nine and a half years that we have been together. What do we have to show for it? Far from family. No lasting friendships. As soon as we start to know our way around, then bam, it’s time to move. I feel so...I don’t know. Broken? Exhausted. Like some sort of out-of-place thoroughbred running without direction. Not understanding where the course is leading. Never settled. I want a life.TIANA
Gemma, you have a life. We have a life together. We mapped this out as our plan back when we met in Atlanta. Deloitte will come around. You’ll see. They love you. Or you’ll find something else even better.GEMMA
Ever since Covid...I don’t know. You have your work and your colleagues. I live in some sort of wonky virtual world. I’m sorry. I am a stupid sod, raining on your parade. Let me chill the bubbly.TIANA
No, I’m sorry. I really am. But you know that this is what I signed up for. It was my way out of Queens.GEMMA
You are out of Queens, Tiana. You did it. You made it. (A beat.) Stop.TIANA
What?GEMMA
Stop-- quit. You made it. You got the gold star, Tiana. Literally. You made it out. Everyone is proud of you. Tell the cheeky bastards you quit, and let’s pack up and pop back to Atlanta. Then we could buy a place--TIANA
--What the hell are you talking about? I can’t quit. I was just made colonel for Christ’s sake--GEMMA
--Tiana...Ella is pregnant. Five and a half months.TIANA
What? Wow. Oh, sweetheart. I am so happy for her. I know she has struggled since, well, the last time. Geez, they must be so happy. When did you find out?GEMMA
Three weeks ago.TIANA
And you didn’t tell me because...?GEMMA
I didn’t think I could tell you. Because...because I wasn’t sure what I would do.TIANA
What you would do?GEMMA
Ti. I want to go back to Atlanta. I don’t think I clearly knew it until we got here, maybe until I read that email just now. With everything going on you could be deployed to who knows where.TIANA
You know that is less likely now that I’m a colonel. Gemma--GEMMA
--I am ready to be still Ti. I cannot be here and unpack all our memories and shove them back into boxes in two years. Save the boxes, save the wrap, and don’t get too close to anyone. Keep your distance. And forget about adopting a bloody cat. The constant moving is killing me, Tiana. I just want my sewing machine, to have dust actually accumulate behind the dresser, and for Our Girl to know where she belongs.TIANA
Gemma, god. You always fucking do this!GEMMA
Always do what?TIANA
This. It’s like I need a can opener to get inside that brain of yours. At work, you communicate all the time. Why can’t you--GEMMA
--I’m sorry--TIANA
--You knew your daughter was pregnant, and you were already panicking about the move back in Atlanta, and you didn’t say anything until now? When we just moved halfway across the country and are here, unpacking our new life?GEMMA
It’s just...ever since Ella’s miscarriage. She was in the hospital for eight days...TIANA
I know.GEMMA
We almost lost her, Ti.TIANA
I know.GEMMA
I just can’t...I need to be with her. With all of them. Maybe Deloitte’s decision is serendipity. The timing is so bloody awful I can’t stand it, and I am not doing this well. I know I am not.TIANA
No, you are not.GEMMA
I am sorry, love. I’m a messy, messed-up nincompoop, and I am not only raining on your parade but dousing it with Texas-sized hail.TIANA
Gemma--GEMMA
--Please. I just want you to think about it. We could go back to Atlanta. You can quit your job. It is just a job, Tiana. Let’s get the hell out of here. Texas doesn’t even support women, much less lesbians, and face it, neither does the military. It is a “double whammy," as you say.TIANA
This is crazy talk. You are just shocked, stressed. Go to Atlanta for Halloween. See Ella, Amelia, and Geoff. Talk to Deloitte. Explain that you need to work from here. If they can’t do that, screw ‘em. You will find something else.GEMMA
Tiana. I love you. I do. But--TIANA
--But what? The weekend before I begin at Lackland with a command, you make a huge spur-of-the-moment emotional decision that upends our life? You want me to quit the career I love, walk away from my O-6, my salary, and my entitlements, break our lease, and move back to Atlanta? Is that what you are saying, Gemma?GEMMA
I--TIANA
--Everything we have worked for. Planned for? Aiming to be part of the one percent to be named general. Is what? Evaporating?GEMMA
I just cannot start all over again. And again. You like the thrill of the new. I like the familiar. I want to stop moving. I want to set down real roots. I am excited about getting back to work in person. Besides, I have been with Deloitte for a long time, and they have been good to me. I--TIANA
--You have been with me a long time. I’ve been good to you.GEMMA
Yes. Yes, yes, love.TIANA
I thought we were lucky when Ella met Geoff visiting us. I never dreamed she would--GEMMA
--Tiana, that is not fair. This is not Ella. Not at all. This is me. This is age. This is life. I want...no need to live near my grandchildren. I want to see them grow up and not just fly in occasionally like some sort of favorite aunty they barely know. I want us to go back to Atlanta Ti.TIANA
Do you know how much money we would lose? I finally broke one sixty.GEMMA
It’s just money. I make enough money for both of us Tiana. Look, I’ve been looking at houses in Candler Park. There’s this 1910 craftsman that just came down... if we pay cash--TIANA
--You’ve been fucking looking at houses, Gemma?! Gemma, moving back is not even an option. This command is my life. It’s who I am. You know that. You can find something here or another position where you can work from anywhere. What about that call you got last year from that head hunter in Charlotte? That was remote. Where is your phone? Call that dude right now. Then you can fly back to A.T.L for every bloody dance recital and every bloody soccer game if you want!GEMMA
Tiana, I love you. But Ella, Geoff, Amelia, and the new baby. They are my family.TIANA
I am your wife. And I thought we were family.GEMMA
We are. You are all my family, and I want us all to be together.TIANA
Tell them to move to Texas! Kids relocate all the time --GEMMA
--Because you and I both know -- and Geoff and Ella know -- that you will probably be reassigned again in three years max. And you and I both know, and Geoff and Ella both know, that it will probably be Japan next. Tiana. Come on. Let’s get out. We can easily afford it. I’ve done the numbers. Tell them, sorry, we changed our mind. Family stuff. What can they do?Pause.TIANA
I’m not leaving the Air Force, Gemma.Beat.Here’s your sewing machine.Pause.GEMMA
I think I need that drink.Gemma picks up the prosecco. She hesitates. Their eyes meet. After a moment, Gemma exits. As the lights go down on Tiana alone with the sewing machine still in hand, Our Girl glows.END OF PLAY
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Written by Ann Barrett.
Ann Barrett’s publications include the Rio Grande Review and The Henniker Review. She is pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at New England College.
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