by Alan Bern
Dustin Wants to Write a Poem With Nicole
Inspired by “Maureen Wants To Write A Poem With Nicole”
Dustin tells Nicole he thought of her the other day when a coworker said: There’s Florida, and there’s Miami. They are very different places. Dustin thought of Nicole because a few weeks earlier, at a Nashville Dolly Parton Day event, she said: It’s Miami and the rest of Florida. Dustin asks Nicole, What’s so damn special about Miami?
Nicole tells Dustin she thought of him when she saw a billboard of Dolly on the roof of the Velvet Taco. It wasn’t just Dolly but also the importance of kindness that made her think of him. Nicole thinks Dustin is one of the kindest people she knows. Nicole wants to tell Dustin what’s so damn special about Miami, but she’s still trying to figure that out herself.
Dustin’s instinct is to argue against the compliment– that’s life with a narcissist parent. He (begrudgingly) writes thank you. He considers himself kind, but never nice. He hates when people call him nice. He’s really fucking nosy (think Gladys Kravitz on speed), takes pride in being a smartass and recycling Drag Race shade whenever possible. (UGH!) A few of the many reasons he can never live a WWDD* dedicated life. (*What Would Dolly Do? DUH!)
Nicole’s instinct is to challenge Dustin’s idea of what it means to be nice. She considers kind and nice to be synonyms, and she thinks nice has gotten a bad rap because it’s sexier to be mean than nice. She loves when people call her kind or nice, and she thinks both are the highest compliment. Nicole, however, also has a hard time accepting compliments, but doesn’t really want to talk about her parents today.
Dustin loves a challenge, gladly accepts Nicole’s non-challenge challenge. * He throws the gloves he isn’t wearing to the ground * (It’s Miami in August!) He asks Nicole if they’re dueling in this poem. (Is a poetry duel even a thing?) The Betsy Hotel with the live music, the Prosecco chilling by the table, and the Labradors Bee and Rosa walking the lobby is an excellent location for a non-challenge challenge. Dustin wants Nicole to know he loves the comic print on her jacket, her brutal honesty, and her poems. He’s going to miss being able to meet her for a drink.Nicole loves a challenge, but she loves chilled Prosecco and the piano even more right now. She looks away from her laptop and refills her flute. (It’s always August in Miami.) Nicole asks Dustin if he wants another grapefruit mimosa. The Betsy Hotel is the place to drink and write poems together. She wants Dustin to know that she loves his Dolly trucker hat, his quick wit, his poems, but she’s not going to miss meeting him for a drink and writing together. * Nicole books a flight to Asheville for November. *
Dustin Brookshire’s chapbooks include Never Picked First For Playtime (Harbor Editions, 2023), Love Most Of You Too (Harbor Editions, 2021), and To The One Who Raped Me (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2012). He is a co-editor of Let Me Say This: A Dolly Parton Poetry Anthology, which was named to the 2024 “Books All Georgians Should Read” list by Georgia Center for the Book. More at dustinbrookshire.com. Social Media: @dustinbrookshire on IG and @DBrookshire on Twitter/X.
Nicole Tallman is the author of four collections: Something Kindred, Poems for the People, FERSACE, and Julie, or Sylvia. She serves as the official Poetry Ambassador for Miami, Poetry and Interviews Editor for The Blue Mountain Review and South Florida Poetry Journal, and Editor of Redacted Books. Find her at nicoletallman.com. Social Media: @natallman on IG and Twitter/X.
Retired librarian Alan Bern received an M.A. in Creative Writing from Boston University studying with Anne Sexton. Alan has published three books of poetry and a hybrid fictionalized memoir, IN THE PACE OF THE PATH, Uncollected Press (2023). He has hybrid book, Dreams of the return, forthcoming from Old Scratch Press, and a chapbook, because lack, from back room poetry. Recent awards: Longlist, The Bedford Competition (2023); Winner, Saw Palm Poetry Contest (2022). Recent/upcoming writing/photo work in: ArLiPo, Porridge Magazine, and Mercurius. Alan is a published/exhibited photographer and operates the fine press/publisher Lines & Faces with artist/printer Robert Woods, linesandfaces.com. https://www.instagram.com/abobern/ https://twitter.com/AlanBern1/ https://www.facebook.com/alan.bern.1 https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-bern-6b19448/.