Kailey Morand
In the portrait of their unification
they stare stoically at Reverend
Richard, iconized marrier of souls.
It seems the left edge of Billie’s veil is lined
with the white lace of my grandma’s
favorite tablecloth. Maybe she was too busy
pressing its fabric to go to her daughter’s
wedding.
At first glance I assume the happy couple
is alone with Richard and his homo
tolerant Bible. But behind them is planted a
portion of a girl, insignificant as I became
when Mama married a woman
who wouldn’t let her cut my chicken
the way I liked. Some marriages are inevitable.
Others are brought to light with the capacity
to burst into suburban flame. I could be mistaken,
but Tony looks scared. He is swallowed black
with his penguin tux into the hole
of 8120 Gulf Freeway.
Is he struggling to stand up
straight? Did he know already he would run
at the first sign of published content
ion? I, like Billie, prefer to be optimistic,
smiling softly at a future projected
on the back wall of his slice of backstreet
Vegas. Possibility overshadows doubt
until it loses itself in the persistent
purgatory of Houston’s Oppressive Hellscape.
Kailey Morand is a junior at Northwestern University studying Creative Writing and Theatre with concentrations in poetry and playwriting. As a queer woman from Houston, Texas, she is committed to exploring the dissonance between identity and origin via creative research. Learn more at her website, kaileymorand.com.
