The Twister

by Elena Shakhnovsky

you think we have time
but we only have distance
a Twister where you
lagging three moves behind
or maybe ahead
which doesn’t matter anyway since
you play hockey
on the field
in the dark
in gloves
and I take out my checkers and play queens
there and back until they catch
or let me go
what’s the point
in the queen’s maidenhood
you fry some meat
pour some tea
wake up at thirty
and you’re a poet
what a disappointment

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Elena Shakhnovsky is a writer and poet, living Hemingway’s dream. Her work has appeared in Scrawl Place, The Manifest Station, dadakuku, 50-Word Stories, and elsewhere.