remember the night in the living room
with the orange couch that used to be
ours which is now mine
the night when the killers played
on vinyl
me spinning round and round
and the record too
how i danced around you
asking foolish questions?
saying foolish things.
things like:
why are you hiding
stars in your underpants?
no more mutton chops
for you—if you’re not going
to let that light shine
then you don’t deserve to eat protein
or try fashionable styles of facial hair.
things like:
i love you.
do you remember now:
you wanted to go to the zoo
but we were so busy talking
about our intrusive thoughts that we forgot
even with the keys in our hands we stayed
in our comfortable pajamas
blitzed in the feminist slogans
we were too scared to wear
to the party for fear the monkeys
might see and throw feces at us
do you remember: how
the keys went back
to the raspberry red
bowl, and we went to bed
you touched me with calloused
woman-hands all the while
i could see a seam of light
seeping through the edges
of your boxer briefs
it kept me awake for a while
your touch and that gleaming bright crotch
the crux of you
my little firefly
i wanted to cup you inside my palms
and peek in on you all night
but eventually even the starlight
became a part of the darkness
and rest overtook me
stephanie e. glass (she/her, they/them) lives in rural Nebraska with son, Milo, and partner, Dylan Golden. Together with a constellation of loved ones, and a clowder of cats, including: Jelly Bean, Charlie, Fruit Loop, and Pants, they celebrate the joy that infuses the rhythm of their daily lives. Glass frequently disappears into the Nebraska Plains and Badlands for hiking and backpacking trips. In addition to nature, Glass draws inspiration for her poetry from literature, motherhood, queer identity, political activism, nature, post-traumatic growth following domestic violence, and the healing relationships Glass has built with those they love. Their work has appeared in Rattle, The Quarter(ly) Vol. XIII: This Is Where We Are Now, Writers in the Attic’s Anthology: The Knot, the Moonstone Center for the Arts Anthology: Go Back to Where You Came From, and Lavender Review.
