He likes to pay but he likes it, too,
\nwhen I am loose, and while my wallet waits
\non the table with the rest for the waiter to return,
\nhe plucks mine up, brandishes my license, he cannot get enough<\/p>\n
of this magic trick. Look how different she looks, isn’t it crazy?
\nMy friend and his wife, full-bellied and content, smile
\nas my boyfriend pulls it back, staring at it, staring
\nat me. He has only known me short-haired and winsome,<\/p>\n
but here I am, preserved: dirty hair and a jaw
\nthat could cut glass, he asks aloud, again, what is it
\nthat makes you seem so different now? I can’t quite\u2014
\nI cut my hair and I gained thirty pounds, and I left<\/p>\n
California and the man holding my purse
\nwhile I took that picture, holding my hand before that
\nin line, always holding me too close, it hurt,
\nbut then, everything hurt then, and he,<\/p>\n
this man now, who only knows me full
\nand softer to the touch can\u2019t know. What I burned down,
\nwhat I built up to be here. There is no easy
\nsong for it, nothing for a dinner table,<\/p>\n
but he is human to wonder. I understand.
\nIt\u2019s not unkindness that makes him ask, he doesn’t know
\nthis woman under plastic crowned with the bear
\nof Golden State and backdropped in blue, wide-eyed,<\/p>\n
starving. He drapes his arm over my shoulder
\nthat holds him up and tells me
\nand all our friends he thinks
\nI look happier now.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He likes to pay but he likes it, too, when I am loose, and while my wallet waits on the table with the rest for the waiter to return, he plucks mine up, brandishes my license, he cannot get enough of this magic trick. Look how different she looks, isn’t it crazy? My friend and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2272,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[74],"tags":[25],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Jypy-4Fk","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17938"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17938"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17986,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17938\/revisions\/17986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}