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Histoire D’amour

June 6, 2022/ Robin Gow

                                  ­       ­after Nikolai Zykov’s flying puppets

Then, I glowed lattice and ladder.

A boddice of between. In the dark I left the ground.

My gender cutting holes in shadows. Portholes

and gloryholes. Meeting selves on the other side.

Across an invented expanse, nothing arrived

but noise-less birds and their strawberry kin.
­
­

­Then I fell victim to blue’s promises.

Held onto pink beliefs of rapture and salvation.

Weightless, my legs as horizon damages.

You never saw the real me and neither did I.

Too many trestles to under-over. The laces

 of my old gravity. Pulled whirlpool into you.

­
­

Then I returned. Tripped over whale oaths.

Emerged completely changed. No more

memories of dirt. Only the night sky’s ragged tongue.

Sand paper moon, make me shine like she used to.

Her eclipse halo, the only remaining mouth.

I reenact again our bliss and bone.

La Pascualita Sees Her Reflection

              ­For over 80 years in Chihuahua, Mexico local legend holds that La Pascualita, a “mannequin” in a

local shop window, is the preserved corpse of the original shop owner’s

daughter, who died tragically on her wedding day.
­

Since I was born, even the sun had eight legs.

If only you could have seen my hands before—

soft and edible. I lived spitting petals from my mouth.

Wrapped a shawl around a yucca tree to dance with

by the white sound of moon. My father tended me.

I stared up at him from a table where we used to sew together.

Dresses for weddings—ruffles blooming from his fingers.

Memories of girls twirling. Their bones like flutes—

air moving through them. How each filled with children.

Homes swallowing them. I fell in love easily

like a bowl of mangoes spills from the table.

Bruises on my spirit. He ate from me the future.

In my eyes I still see his reflection. His dark hair

and strong jaw. The way he took my hand as someone would

the reigns of a horse. I wanted to be crafted. My father

painted each lash. Now, even he is gone.

I am fading or else I am getting closer to being ready.

Sometime, I think I see my fiancé on the street.

He stands still while others move then he is gone.

Veil pours from my skull. More and more each day.

Soon this will be a store of only my tulle and lace.

A wedding is a day that’s always coming. Look at my lips:

pink as a rosary. Moving him thumb across them.

Was it my father or my lover who last caressed them?

Put his sturdy warm hand on my neck. Told me it was not too late.

Robin Gow headshot

Robin Gow is a trans and queer poet and MG/YA author. They are the author of several poetry collections and an essay collection, as well as the YA verse novel, A Million Quiet Revolutions.

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Friday Lunch Blog

Friday Lunch! A serving of contemporary essays published every Friday.

Today’s course:

Peace, Love, and a lot of Loud Rock & Roll

June 17, 2022/in A Transfer, Blog / Sunee Lyn Foley
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/0F6155F4-C1C9-45E1-BE9D-CA099003FB8E.jpeg 513 474 Sunee Lyn Foley https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Sunee Lyn Foley2022-06-17 14:31:102022-06-18 09:02:31Peace, Love, and a lot of Loud Rock & Roll

Crosses to Pentacles

June 10, 2022/in A Transfer, Blog / Jazmine Cooper
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/cooperjazmine.portrait-1.jpg 2216 2216 Jazmine Cooper https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Jazmine Cooper2022-06-10 14:00:592022-06-10 14:00:59Crosses to Pentacles

Table to Trash

June 3, 2022/in A Transfer, Blog / Franz Franta
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IMG_9842-scaled-1.jpg 2560 1920 Franz Franta https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Franz Franta2022-06-03 13:15:242022-06-13 18:25:13Table to Trash

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Midnight Snack

A destination for all your late night obsessions.

Tonight’s bites:

QVC-land

May 6, 2022/in A Transfer, Midnight Snack / D. E. Hardy
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Diana-Hardy_QVC_Feature_Photo.png 533 800 D. E. Hardy https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png D. E. Hardy2022-05-06 23:45:322022-05-06 23:45:32QVC-land

Escape Artists at the End of the World

April 29, 2022/in A Transfer, Midnight Snack / Lisa Levy
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/waldemar-brandt-eIOPDU3Fkwk-unsplash-scaled-1.jpg 1707 2560 Lisa Levy https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Lisa Levy2022-04-29 23:49:582022-06-13 18:34:12Escape Artists at the End of the World

The House in the Middle

April 15, 2022/in A Transfer, Midnight Snack / Megan Vasquez
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/alec-douglas-iuC9fvq63J8-unsplash-scaled-1.jpg 2560 1707 Megan Vasquez https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Megan Vasquez2022-04-15 23:45:322022-04-15 23:45:32The House in the Middle

More coming soon!

School Lunch

An occasional Wednesday series dishing up today’s best youth writers.

Today’s slice:

I’ve Stayed in the Front Yard

May 12, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Brendan Nurczyk
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/SL-Insta-Brendan-Nurczyk-2.png 1500 1500 Brendan Nurczyk https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Brendan Nurczyk2021-05-12 10:18:392022-02-01 13:24:05I’ve Stayed in the Front Yard

A Communal Announcement

April 28, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Isabella Dail
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SL-FB-Isabella-Dail.png 788 940 Isabella Dail https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Isabella Dail2021-04-28 11:34:132021-04-28 11:34:13A Communal Announcement

Seventeen

April 14, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Abigail E. Calimaran
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SL-Insta-Abigail-E.-Calimaran.png 1080 1080 Abigail E. Calimaran https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Abigail E. Calimaran2021-04-14 11:22:062021-04-14 11:22:06Seventeen

More School Lunch »

Word From the Editor

The variety in this issue speaks not only to the eclectic world we inhabit but to the power of the human spirit. We live in an uncertain world. In the U.S., we’re seeing mass shootings daily. Across the world, we’re still very much in a pandemic, some being trapped in their homes for weeks on end, others struggling to stay alive in hospitals. War continues to wage in Ukraine. Iran and North Korea are working diligently to make nuclear weapons. The list goes on. Still, we have artists who are willing and able to be vulnerable with one another, to share stories and art to help us try and make sense of our world.

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