Chicago to Nashville flight.
Dark skin, golden highlighted processed curls,
Chicly dressed with faux long-haired black sheep collar.
She arrives at the gate, chardonnay to-go in hand,
Boards, and orders a cranberry vodka from the flight attendant.
She smells (maybe reeks) of expensive perfume.
Full lips with enhanced eyelashes,
Not the false peel-off kind
But the ones individually appliquéd to the lid,
Draw attention to her sparkling eye shadow,
Lightly applied.
Lightly applied.
Emerald, diamond, and opal earrings
Tastefully set
Dangle from her ears.
Baby seals and polar bears blink on the screen of her cell phone.
She makes three calls while waiting to take off.
The first to Boo-Boo, who she sweetly admonishes
Must wear a freshly cleaned white shirt and one of the ties “I gave you”
To his appointment in Kyoto next week.
The second to someone who knows she’s been away this weekend
And to whom she explains how Kyle wanted to get “fucked up”
And that she was unable to say a proper goodbye to Sophie
Because she was getting her hair done and it’s
“Really long now and must take two hours to comb out and dry.”
She worries about not wanting to be too much of a bother
To someone in Dubai if they, in fact, end up going at all.
The third is another call to Boo-Boo,
This time his answering machine picks up.
She says she’ll try to come back in April
But definitely in July.
“You’re my sugar daddy,” she says confidentially,
Leaning forward in her seat as if this gesture will make her invisible.
She has prep-school speech patterns and
Ivy League cadences and rhythms
To the way she puts words together.
She takes a Claritin-D with her vodka and dozes for the rest of the flight.
She requires a personal reminder to put her tray table up
And does so after gulping the dregs of her drink.
Author's Note—I'm a huge Billy Collins fan. Do you have a favorite poet? Also, just a bit of advice . . . when you're talking on your cell phone in public, keep in mind that an author might be near by making notes for a character in his/her next short story, novel, or poem.
