photo by Alexis Rhone Fancher
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A Little Bit Rain
It seemed this bicycle was faster
when I first started. Now the afterlife
is gaining on me, and every billboard I pass
has the same five words. I know
you’d like to know what they say, but
if you’re ever going to build up those quads,
you’ll need to enter this race yourself.
I even hired the Rockettes to adorn the finish line
with their legs. All for you. That’s how much
I love you. The moon used to be yellow,
but I painted it green for your green-loving eyes,
then left a pack of cigarettes and two aspirin
on the nightstand. Maybe don’t get so drunk
next time, okay? I like it when you do that thing
with your tongue. It makes me want to get
matching tattoos. We could translate our bodies
into a new language. Your mouth a little
bit summer. My mouth a little bit rain.
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Melissa Studdard’s most recent poetry collection is Dear Selection Committee. Her work has been featured by PBS, NPR, The New York Times, Ms. Magazine, and The Guardian and has garnered awards such as The Penn Review Poetry Prize, the Tom Howard Prize, and the Lucille Medwick Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America.
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Samantha Thompson, Back stage–Radio City Rockettes, oil on canvas, 2022