Forecast
By Ashley Varela
Strange weather we're having, mid-
March. Congregation of lightning
in the forecast. Warm winds.
A woman closes her jacket.
Kicks up the volume on her cell
even though we are side by side,
in public, same bartop, radio on.
Blasting "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over."
Then, "Gabrielle." Someone here,
not me, is heartbroken.
Someone here, not me, plunges
their fingers into vegan nacho dip.
I chew the strands of lime
floating in my margarita.
Lick salt pearls along my thumb,
which itches to text you back.
Mostly about the cherry blossoms,
which arrive, again, early this year.
All that extra heat
a city generates,
something the green buds
mistake for sun. Ashley Varela (they/them) is a queer writer and author based in Seattle, Washington.
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Going to AWP? We’d love to see you at our reading “Offsite. On Purpose”—with MER, NELLE, Perugia Press, Whale Road Review, and Cultivating Voice LIVE Poetry—held in honor of poet Jennifer Martelli’s memory. It takes place on Wednesday, March 4, at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:30) at Westminster Hall, 519 W. Fayette St. We are also holding a meet-and-greet breakfast with Radar on Friday, March 6, at 8:00 am, at Bistro 300, Hyatt Regency, Baltimore Inner Harbor (free to attend, each poet pays for their own).
03/19 / Poetry Reading and Conversation with visiting poet-in-residence Sunni Brown Wilkinson & local poet Elizabeth Jacobson / The BBar at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 7-8:30 pm EST / Free
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