by Catalina Benavides
A Good Time on Saturday Night in Fly, Ohio
It would start in Susie’s little kitchen
with two boxes of Chef Boyardee Pizza kits,
a bag of mozzarella, and a pouch of pepperoni.
We’d use the top of the gas oven for a countertop.
We’d lean in with our shoulders and arms,
our palms pressing over and over with a rocking motion.
The dough was warm and smooth as young flesh.
The floor registers that warmed our stocking feet
sounded like little hearts beating.
We’d sit around the yellow Formica table,
and eat pizza, and tell stories
that made us laugh until we cried.
Everyone there knew what love can be.
And the big Ohio slipped by in the humid night,
and the long river barges passed almost silently,
except their foghorns rose up toward the sleepy stars.
And the next morning we’d sit on the porch
and eat strawberries still warm from the garden
and look down over the wide water.
The bobcats out back of Clutter’s Ridge,
they’d sing on nights when the moon hung low,
and its crescent seemed to point down
deep, deep, deep.
Colette Tennant has three books of poetry: Commotion of Wings, Eden and After, and Sweet Gothic. Her book, Religion in The Handmaid’s Tale: a Brief Guide, was published in 2019 to coincide with Atwood’s publication of The Testaments. Her poems have won various awards and have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes along with being published in various journals, including Prairie Schooner, Rattle, Southern Poetry Review, and Poetry Ireland Review. Colette is an English and Humanities Professor who has also taught art in Great Britain, Germany, and Italy. https://www.facebook.com/colette.tennant/
Catalina Benavides is a first generation Costa Rican American photographer working across portrait, architectural, and documentary styles. Their work focuses on capturing genuine moments and the unique details that bring stories to life. Instagram: capturedbycatalina_.