TAKING OFF
Some people like to make a lot of noise when they arrive (screaming
hollow hellos/bottles clanking/scrunching cellophane wrappers from
food they pretend to have cooked) or when they leave (smacking
kisses/rooting about for shoes & coats/shouting promises that they
are okay to drive) /// These ones don’t come or go in V-formation/
they straggle in (often late) or out (often outstaying their welcome)
alone/in pairs/in small groups /// They bump/collide/splash down ///
They were once the ones we waited for/who got things started/the life
of the party /// Now we cringe/cover our ears/look away from their
dander/slurs/all the messy shit they leave behind
Author’s Bio
Louella Lester writes fiction, CNF, and poetry in Winnipeg. Her work has appeared in Prairie Fire, Lemon Hound, Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazine, The Antigonish Review, CBC News Manitoba Online, and in the anthology Gush: menstrual manifestos for our times (Frontenac House, 2018).