Safety
As we cross the bridge, I count a dozen pelicans perched on the railing, each waiting for the perfect bite. I imagine my toes curling on the same ledge, ready to dive at a moment’s notice. I should explain when I say this that I’m not thinking about death, that water’s just where I weigh least, and it feels good to be light and wet and lonely. When we reach the end of the bridge, conversation exhausted, the birds long out of view, we’re greeted by a tunnel of graffiti, messages overlapping in neon. I wish I could I paint it there, some tag or memorial, something easy to digest: I am only a hungry bird hunting for a someplace it’s safe enough to eat.
A fat, bisexual, and invisibly disabled writer, Emily Lake Hansen is the author of the poetry collection, Home and Other Duty Station (Kelsay Books), as well as two chapbooks. Her work has appeared in 32 Poems, CALYX, Pleiades, OxMag, So to Speak, Atticus Review, and Up the Staircase Quarterly, among others. A recent finalist for Frontier Poetry's Breakthrough Chapbook Contest, Emily lives with her very loud family in Atlanta.
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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