Page 77 - WTP VOl.VII#5

Coming Out to Mami
The cushions were beige, dinner-partied, lived-on,
scrubbed clean as bleach would allow.
She spoke of remodeling,
zero percent interest at Rooms To Go, how what couldn’t be replaced
could be reupholstered.
We scoured fabric stores for bolts of cloth dark enough to mask my stains,
strong enough to handle the strain
of starting over, as if perfect
squares of Enchantment Twill
could contain the messiness of living.
At home I slid scissors across material
she pressed into my hands.
She watched as I struggled for straight lines, as I wept over jagged edges
I could not control.
She taught me to conceal irregularities, to pin them down
beneath the sting of a staple gun, smooth new skin over battered innards, cushion after cushion reassembled, both of us sure
I too could be remade.
Moro-Gronlier is the author of Visionware (Finishing Line Press), and the editor of Grabbed: Writers Respond to Sexual Assault forthcoming from Beacon Press this year. The recipient of an Elizabeth George Foundation Grant and a Florida Individual Artist Fellowship, her work has appeared in publications including Rhino, The Notre Dame Review, The Comstock Review, Reading Queer: Poetry In a Time of Chaos, The Antioch Review, The Tishman Review and The South Florida Poetry Journal. She is a Professor of English at Miami Dade Col- lege in Florida, and the Associate Editor at SWWIM Every Day. She resides with her wife and son in Miami.
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