At least I think it’s Banksy— he’s graffiti-ing our corner booth with little girls reaching for red heart balloons. Our server gives him the stink-eye, but Hillary’s stomach growls, distracting us all. Hil orders a tempeh Reuben and a side of sweet potato fries. Banksy’s not hungry, but when the food comes, he turns puppy-dog eyes on Hillary and she shares her spuds. I offer him a pull on my matcha-mango smoothie, but the straw is soggy. Such is life. Banksy is surprised that Hil has taken up Bill’s vegan lifestyle— apparently, she heard the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, and in this case, she reports, it actually is. Hillary asks Banksy what it’s like to be wildly famous without being known. Banksy whispers in her ear, mentioning her time as First Lady. I order a slice of carrot cake topped with cashew crème. Three forks. Hillary wipes walnut dust from Banksy’s chin. On the way out, Banksy paints a big blue Hillary 2028 on the restaurant’s door.
Ann Weil writes at her home on the corner of Stratford and Avon in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and on a deck boat at Snipe’s Point Sandbar off Key West, Florida. Her work has been twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize and appears in Pedestal Magazine, DMQ Review, New World Writing Quarterly, The Shore, 3Elements Review, and elsewhere. Her chapbook, Lifecycle of a Beautiful Woman, was released in April 2023 from Yellow Arrow Publishing.
3/6 / Meet the Artist with visiting poet-in-residence Keetje Kuipers / The Library at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 6:00 pm EST / Free
3/6 / Poetry Reading with visiting poet-in-residence Keetje Kuipers + local writer Julie Marie Wade / The Library at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 7:30 pm EST / Free
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