Parallels and Meridians
last night we were toasting to the next four years, or maybe the four after that. forget who’s president – i want to know where you’ll be in 2028, and who you’ll be when you’re 40. henry thinks we’re all just latitudes and longitudes, but sometimes i wish the world were smaller. an oyster, an abalone, a clamshell. in my viewfinder, we’re next to each other, vertical bars or perhaps parentheses. we took a raincheck to stare into each other’s eyes for four minutes, but what am i supposed to do when you look at me like that, in your gray sweatpants? sometimes you’re muddling, muddling, but other times, you’re my wild-eyed optimist, and i like you that way best.
Natalye Childress (she/her) is a Berlin-based editor, writer, and translator. She has an MA in Creative Writing, and her first book, The Aftermath of Forever, was published by Microcosm Publishing in 2014. Find her on Twitter @deutschbitte, Instagram @natalyereads, or https://www.natalye.com.