by Ellena Eyakuze
“Next!”
Oh God, I hope I get it.
I mean, I did everything on the checklist
I rose in tandem with the westward sun,
I vaporized every wrinkle in my white collared shirt,
And calcified my midnight slacks to conceal
The tremor of my shins.
I printed tall stacks of pale lumber that delineate
The fruits of my existence
In hopes their juices are succulent enough
To inundate the Embassy’s tastebuds.
I even retraced the virtual steps of my footprint
And scrubbed away its defiant, anti-imperialist stains.
“Next”
I crank up the blinding wattage of my smile
And regurgitate practiced sentences in Transatlantic English
I balance a ball on my nose,
And leap through hanging hoops,
And jester in front finger-smudged plexiglass.
My eyebrows are waterboarded with rivers of angst
And my palms drown ink permutations of the alphabet
Have I not danced enough?
Has my performance not pleased you?
“Next!”
Ellena Eyakuze is an international college student from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Having lived and studied in five countries across three different continents she considers herself a global citizen. Outside of academics she enjoys water-sports, discovering new cafes in the neighborhood, and is an avid reader of literary and science fiction.
