Enter Stage Now

Her flushed face shines out among the plodding herd
of iron-on t-shirts and keepsake hats,
cherubic glow of innocence cleansing the dullness
found in the yawns of aging fathers.
She begets covetousness in the mothers too
old to bear anymore—their hips craving to split;
midlife emptiness consumed in depression,
consummated with $8 burgers and $5 bottles of Evian
affairs with their postman. She eases her way
through the hot-flash stares, hard-heeled pumps
ticking away at the weathered walk.

In the middle of Alistair Avenue, on her way
to the tilt-a-whirl, her waltz halts taut,
tiny hands reaching out to grab hold of her
father. Mother looks on as her feather-floating
daughter is hoisted high into the air,
breaking gravity's codes, splitting atoms
with her foot-long smile.

Mr. Huskey has been writing fiction and poetry since his youth and finds just enough comfort in these arts to offset the amount of gathering dust on his BA in English from Longwood University. He is currently writing an interconnected collection of short stories as well as an interconnected collection of poems. His work has appeared in The Dos Passos Review, OPUIM Magazine.com (www.opiummagazine.com), and The Nocturnal Lyric.