Cue the mourning doves and cathedral spires, a high white room and the same woman’s voice stuttering from the lectern.
Before the conference even started, we’d gotten into an argument. Because there are other things that were exciting about the dinner party. No, not your lengthy defense of the lyric, or your friend’s various opinions on enjambment. What was really significant, I mean significant, was the way I’d jumped the fence to get there. You were frustrated by this, and at first, I couldn’t understand why the other guests were leaving.
It was a few days before I realized you were right about everything. The breach of etiquette, the newly articulated boundaries. But when I turned to tell you, the lecture hall was empty, and you’d left your phone behind on the desk.
John Gallaher & Kristina Marie Darling were born in Portland and Tulsa. Their collaborations appear in OmniVerse, Requited, diode, and elsewhere. They currently live and write in rural Missouri while also taking frequent trips on the bullet train from Paris to Agen.