Maria Guarino

A New Holiday Outfit

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and none of my clothes fit me. After eight years of being together, my partner and I took that big step and finally moved in together, bringing our clothes, furniture, cat, and love to a cozy one-bedroom apartment in Astoria. Cozy is the key word here- the apartment is nestled on the main street of a bustling but quaint area of Queens, catering to both his need for quiet, and also my desires for things to do and people to see. For the past few months, we have been busy at work, making it “home” deciding whose couch fit best (his- no question), what types of curtains to purchase (I wanted delicate lace, but compromised for something a little more sturdy and private), and constantly battling and making up over things like how to clean the kitchen, where to put the litter box, and how much space my art supplies should occupy. (We almost did not recover when he threw out a seemingly random piece of paper, which was, in reality, a treasured piece of ephemera that I sought to re-purpose later. Of course, once I discovered that it was gone, it was my most treasured piece of scrap paper ever).

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Kimberly Dark

From Damaged Like Me: Essays on Love, Harm and Transformation (AK Press 2021) by Kimberly Dark

Damaged, Like Me

I.

I saw a porno snuff film for the first time in Las Vegas, more than thirty-five years ago. I was there recently for a professional conference and the memory came back slowly. Which boyfriend was I with? Did I get up and leave? I know I didn’t see the end.

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Nancy Jensen

The Room

I am alone in the Room.  It has dirty old orange shag carpet on the floor and no furniture except a trash can.  The windows are boarded up so you can only see treetops and sky at the top.  On the other side of the Room are French doors, also all boarded up.  A person standing on the other side of the French doors would not be able to tell that there is a Room beyond those doors.  In the Room a light bulb hangs down from a cord, but the control switch to turn the light on or off is not in the Room.

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Shaneisha Dodson

Vagina Rights

A Set of Monologues by Shaneisha Dodson

Cast of Characters  

KENYA: African American female, fighting against genial mutilation. 

JUDY: Any race, female. Transgender. Big personality. 

SANDRA: Any race, fighting against sex trafficking. 

LAURA: Any race, female. Victim of domestic violence. 

MONICA: Any race, female. HIV positive.  

ESTELLE: Any race, female. Secretly suffering from depression.  

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