POETRY
Childhood Friend
after Philippe Soupault
Flying as a if a dervish
winking her way up the moon
she calls after you
to say that breakfast was delicious
And your eyes drop like lampshades
surrendering to the nighthood of yourself
When she returns with grief
dripping from her hair
she will smile at you like a morning glory
gilded in our museum of iniquities
much like kisses from the stars
Are you
praying
or are you constructing
a tomb underneath your floorboards
for the uncooked rice
and fear
Give up your dreams of
orange groves
She is somersaulting across
the Sahara trying to tell you
She will not lie down in it
Tessa Bryant (she/her/hers) is a queer educator, performing artist, and writer from Nashville, Tennessee. Tessa holds an MFA in Poetry from Eastern Washington University’s Inland Northwest Center for Writers and has taught at Eastern Washington University and Lipscomb University. Tessa has been previously published in Fugue Literary Journal and has been a reader for Willow Springs Magazine and Willow Springs Books. She has performed and created work in many theatre companies throughout Middle Tennessee, including the Nashville Shakespeare Festival, Kindling Arts Festival, and Nashville Repertory Theatre. Find her on Twitter and Instagram: @tessanbryant