I keep my head down at events,
weddings and baby showers. Avoiding
eye contact equals avoiding conversation
equals avoiding explanations and overly harsh
judgments. It is the 21st Century,
but I am still labeled wrong for ignoring
my biological clock, for not dreaming
of diamond-baring princess and overdone
white gowns. Vocalizing such things
is sacrilege. Defending myself against the inevitable
barrage of “Oh you poor thing” and “There’s still time”
pityings when my “sisters” discover I am
still without husband and child only brings a flock
of bitter lecturing harpies descending to pick apart
my life. So I choose
to sit, alone, in back rows and isolated corners,
attending in show of support, praying for quick
and early escape.
Author Bio:
A.J. Huffman has published seven solo chapbooks and one joint chapbook through various small presses. Her eighth solo chapbook, Drippings from a Painted Mind, won the 2013 Two Wolves Chapbook Contest. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, and her poetry, fiction, and haiku have appeared in hundreds of national and international journals, including Labletter, The James Dickey Review, Bone Orchard, EgoPHobia, Kritya, and Offerta Speciale, in which her work appeared in both English and Italian translation. She is also the founding editor of Kind of a Hurricane Press. www.kindofahurricanepress.com
weddings and baby showers. Avoiding
eye contact equals avoiding conversation
equals avoiding explanations and overly harsh
judgments. It is the 21st Century,
but I am still labeled wrong for ignoring
my biological clock, for not dreaming
of diamond-baring princess and overdone
white gowns. Vocalizing such things
is sacrilege. Defending myself against the inevitable
barrage of “Oh you poor thing” and “There’s still time”
pityings when my “sisters” discover I am
still without husband and child only brings a flock
of bitter lecturing harpies descending to pick apart
my life. So I choose
to sit, alone, in back rows and isolated corners,
attending in show of support, praying for quick
and early escape.
Author Bio:
A.J. Huffman has published seven solo chapbooks and one joint chapbook through various small presses. Her eighth solo chapbook, Drippings from a Painted Mind, won the 2013 Two Wolves Chapbook Contest. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, and her poetry, fiction, and haiku have appeared in hundreds of national and international journals, including Labletter, The James Dickey Review, Bone Orchard, EgoPHobia, Kritya, and Offerta Speciale, in which her work appeared in both English and Italian translation. She is also the founding editor of Kind of a Hurricane Press. www.kindofahurricanepress.com
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