Performed at Lincoln High School’s annual slam poetry competition, then at Verslandia, Portland’s youth slam poetry championship, April 2022

They stood a foot apart for a moment, small talk and a brief exchange
hugging for a full minute

I’ll start from the beginning 

I saw a man and a woman before a concert talk about the small things, jobs, the weather
The man took her in and they hugged for a full minute, not letting go, her eyes tight
She was wearing a black and white cheetah print dress, pretty and the right amount of flashy
He had on a gray suit, nice cut, somewhat flattering
Her vividly dyed red hair stood out against his bald head in the embrace

I’ll start from the beginning

I was at a concert in September, I had heard about an artist that was coming into town
Before the show, I watched the crowd around me
It was made up of older men and women laughing and talking 

This interaction seemed different
A group of three, a man, a woman, and someone who escapes my mind

The someone briefly talked, then walked away
The man and woman were left with only pleasantries 
The conversation stopped and they hugged for a minute

The world got quiet, everything around this embrace faded
They were left with what was, this touch, this moment in time for just them

Here is my theory of what happened:

Lizette and James were past lovers, brought together by their affinity for Queen
James works at a wig store, selling toupes and big bouffant
He sees the job as a dream-fulfilling lifestyle
What James doesn’t have, he gives

Lizette is a loud and happy woman
She cut her hair short a couple weeks ago, ends tickling her ears
Lizette was a flight attendant for 25 years
The one story she will always tell at parties is how she served John Travolta martinis, nonstop from Bombay to LA

Lizette and James were together for four years

Lizette loved James, truly
She loved when he would bring a croissant from the bakery downstairs on Saturday mornings

James loved Lizette
He loved when she planned surprise parties for other people and the look on her face when she saw something disgusting

James says that it was bound to happen
Lizette says that too much had happened between them

She let go first
Everything sped back up, the laughter and noise came back 
They smiled, she shimmied and laughed to clear the tension

I stopped watching them
The show started soon after, the next two hours were filled with disco lights and onstage drinking

I’ll start from the beginning

They stood a foot apart for a second, small talk and a brief exchange
hugging for a full minute