by Lisa Sultani
I attended an event last night
Actually, it was a first date with a man named Jacob
Around the halfway point, which I knew to be halfway only in retrospect,
He asked me what I had been like when I was younger
My first thought was “giddy”,
But I understood that was not the answer he was looking for
So instead I answered I had been chubbier
And that I began to slim down in my 20s when I discovered hot yoga
He was pleased by this, and asked to join me in a yoga class some weekend
Because I am no longer young, I knew what he was really asking
And I knew, because I am no longer young,
He would not be prepared for the way in which I would quench his thirst
But there was the rest of dinner to spend together
So for the moment I said I would check the studio calendar
And let him know if there were any beginner classes
When I reached back home, alone, I gratefully peeled off my dress
It is a beautiful garment embroidered with exotic birds
I chose it at a flea market and wear it only on special occasions
Jacob had not commented on it, instead focusing on my eyes
Which I have not chosen but happen to be a clear blue
I decided then that this occasion was not special after all,
But gave myself credit for not losing hope
For although a long way from giddy, I am still a long way from hopeless
***
Lisa Sultani earned her MA in Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. She has publications forthcoming in the Delta Poetry Review and J Journal. Ms. Sultani lives deep in America’s Bible Belt, which is as surprising to her as it is to anyone else.
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