Friday night the ICU English department hosted a poetry slam at Uncommon Grounds coffee shop. Birdie always had the pleasure of working these events. Ian and Selma had both entered the competition. Birdie eyed them while changing coffee filters. Selma had brought her boyfriend, a man named Hassan Alsinan, with her. He was good-looking but distant. They had been dating for two weeks now and he refused to participate in any kind of public display of affection. When Selma tried to hold his hand he pulled it out of her grasp quickly. Birdie didn’t like him. She didn’t trust him. She thought Selma could do better.
Blake Rogers had joined Ian at their table and every now and then Birdie caught him staring at her. Blake was really starting to get on her nerves lately. He wouldn’t stop flirting with her. Yesterday he even had the audacity to buy her flowers.
Mrs. Nelson, Birdie’s first grade teacher had come to the poetry slam. She didn’t enter the competition but was getting up to read to read for the open mic section that signaled “intermission” between rounds. Birdie couldn’t help but check her out. Although she was probably the same age as Birdie’s mother, Mrs. Nelson looked good. She read her poem and Birdie picked up some clean coffee mugs to dry while she listened:
“Skin the color of caramel surrounds me like a cocoon.
You are lips and eyes and breasts and softness.
My heart flutters like a butterfly as you caress me gently.
The mattress rolls and seems to breathe under me.
Undulating passions and a love that goes unrecognized.
Invisible to the eyes of institutions that decide.”
Mrs. Nelson sat down. Birdie held the mug in her hands. She had stopped drying after the first two lines of Mrs. Nelson’s poem. She dropped the mug back in the dishwasher and walked over to Ian. He was nervously reading through one of his competition poems. She flicked him on the shoulder to get his attention.
“Is Mrs. Nelson a lesbian?” she asked him.
“Yeah, didn’t you hear?” Ian responded. Birdie looked at him, puzzled.
“Peabody Elementary school fired her after they found out she was bisexual. I guess some middle schooler came to her thinking he was gay and wanting advice. She told him it was ok to explore his sexuality and when his parents found out they flipped. She was fired a week later,” he spat and went back to practicing for the next round.
Birdie was filled with rage. How could Peabody Elementary possibly do that? That had to be illegal! There had to be something she could do to help.
She went back behind the counter, made two cups of chai tea and punched out for her break. Mrs. Nelson smiled warmly when Birdie slid into the seat next to her.
“Why Birdie O’Reilly, I haven’t seen you since you puked on the gym floor when you were a third grader,” she said.
Birdie laughed, happy that Mrs. Nelson had remembered her.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Volume 1, Issue 3: The Game Begins
Ian was working on his latest poem:
“To be a soccer ball t’would suck.
To always be kicked all through the muck.”
He was stuck on the next line. Sitting at Uncommon Grounds coffee shop, he put his head in his hands and thought about what a terrible poet he was turning out to be.
Ian was studying English literature at Iowa Central University. He had a handful of semesters left to go and was facing the inevitable panic that most soon-to-be-graduates must face. What the hell was he going to do with a degree in English? He didn’t get his teaching certificate and he was finally coming to realize that he wasn’t a good enough writer to do much with it.
His cousin, Birdie, sat down across from him.
“On your break?” he asked her.
She nodded a response as she took off her employee apron. Ian’s friend Blake slid into the seat next to Birdie and winked at her. He turned to Ian.
“Sorry I’m late. Had to shower off after my run,” he said and stretched his muscled arms up over his head, all the while watching Birdie out of the corner of his eye.
Blake had always had a crush on Birdie and right now Blake’s manly display was really irritating Ian. Everything was irritating Ian. He and Blake were supposed to meet to proof read each others' first essay for their Shakespeare class and Blake, with his blonde hair and blue eyes was late, as usual. Ian’s jaw tensed and Blake could tell that something was wrong.
“Hey man, don’t it sweat. I’ll make it up to you and buy your coffee,” Blake said nervously. He winked at Birdie again and she rolled her eyes.
“In your dreams Blake. I’m a total lesbian,” she spat out.
The table went silent and Ian and Blake stared at her. She hadn’t told any of them yet. Ian then realized why she had been acting so strange lately. He shrugged his shoulders and gave her a high five. Somehow her announcement made sense to him. Blake wasn’t as convinced.
“Wow, Bird…never would have guessed it,” Blake said.
“You’re so girly, you know, I just…are you sure?” he stumbled on.
Now it was Birdie’s turn to be irritated.
“Feminine women can be huge lesbians, you know. Not all lesbians are masculine or whatever,” she spat at him. She went back to work even though her break wasn’t over. Work was much easier than having to put up with Blake’s useless flirtation.
Blake watched her go. He was suddenly determined to prove to her that she, in fact, was not a lesbian.
“To be a soccer ball t’would suck.
To always be kicked all through the muck.”
He was stuck on the next line. Sitting at Uncommon Grounds coffee shop, he put his head in his hands and thought about what a terrible poet he was turning out to be.
Ian was studying English literature at Iowa Central University. He had a handful of semesters left to go and was facing the inevitable panic that most soon-to-be-graduates must face. What the hell was he going to do with a degree in English? He didn’t get his teaching certificate and he was finally coming to realize that he wasn’t a good enough writer to do much with it.
His cousin, Birdie, sat down across from him.
“On your break?” he asked her.
She nodded a response as she took off her employee apron. Ian’s friend Blake slid into the seat next to Birdie and winked at her. He turned to Ian.
“Sorry I’m late. Had to shower off after my run,” he said and stretched his muscled arms up over his head, all the while watching Birdie out of the corner of his eye.
Blake had always had a crush on Birdie and right now Blake’s manly display was really irritating Ian. Everything was irritating Ian. He and Blake were supposed to meet to proof read each others' first essay for their Shakespeare class and Blake, with his blonde hair and blue eyes was late, as usual. Ian’s jaw tensed and Blake could tell that something was wrong.
“Hey man, don’t it sweat. I’ll make it up to you and buy your coffee,” Blake said nervously. He winked at Birdie again and she rolled her eyes.
“In your dreams Blake. I’m a total lesbian,” she spat out.
The table went silent and Ian and Blake stared at her. She hadn’t told any of them yet. Ian then realized why she had been acting so strange lately. He shrugged his shoulders and gave her a high five. Somehow her announcement made sense to him. Blake wasn’t as convinced.
“Wow, Bird…never would have guessed it,” Blake said.
“You’re so girly, you know, I just…are you sure?” he stumbled on.
Now it was Birdie’s turn to be irritated.
“Feminine women can be huge lesbians, you know. Not all lesbians are masculine or whatever,” she spat at him. She went back to work even though her break wasn’t over. Work was much easier than having to put up with Blake’s useless flirtation.
Blake watched her go. He was suddenly determined to prove to her that she, in fact, was not a lesbian.
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