Month: December 2022

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Friends

Written by C Hues

December 21, 2022

A woman and her backing band perform at a small music venue. 
Whisper whisper Mutter Mutter CHATTER CHATTER
The words grow louder, and the noise drowns out the music.
The bass player misses a beat.
After her performance, the woman storms off stage.
A friend extends his hand in good grace, saying, “You were awes—
The woman ignores him and moves his hand away.
The friend is angry now. He sees someone blocking the door.
He bumps into the door blocker and the door blocker pushes him back.
The door blocker and his new friend tussle that night.
The loser of the fight goes home to his wife.
Coming through the door, his wife asks him if he made any new friends.
He finds a reason to yell at his wife—the door should have been locked.
“I just waltzed right in!” As he hears the bassist miss the beat again.
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Remote

Written by C Hues

December 19, 2022

                The game is coming on soon,
		three hours before noon.
		I hop on my bed, relaxed.
		Sitting still, so still, almost dead.
		Taxed.
		A hard day’s work deserves a 
		quiet night watching your home team
		inevitably lose. This is the fate
		of being a Wizards fan.
		I reach under the pillow 
		to change the channel. Not there.
		I look under the bed. Not there.
		By the time I find it, the game’s over.
		We won.
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Poached Eggs

Written by C Hues

December 18, 2022

Attempt 1:
I take a brown egg; I crack it hard.
Not hard enough.
Now, trying to peel it open, the hard shells mix with yoke.
What a joke.

Attempt 2:
I take another brown egg; I crack it hard.
Too hard. 
Expensive eggs—at least they’re not wasted.
The egg shoots into the bowl.
I turn on the pot with water. Add some vinegar. 
I slowly, slowly, slowly pour the egg into the pot—
Too fast. Not enough water.
It looks like a fried egg. I still see the yoke.

Attempt 3:
I go to McDonald’s for an Egg McMuffin. Fuck poached eggs.
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The Same Boat

Written by C Hues

December 17, 2022

I hear the screams, the pain…the trauma carried through the genes.

AFRICA
Mende, Igbo, Yoruba, Bantu, Wolof, Fulani…These women taken from their homes and chained together, catching diseases, dying on the shipsstucknexttostrangers…we’re all in the same boat now.

AMERICA
The colonists brutalize and rape the Indigenous women. 

The slave owners brutalize and rape the black women. 

The dark women have light children,

and the light children have lighter children 

who forgot that they came from the dark women. 

The dark women drown in their tears, 

and cry, 

“You have forgotten us.” 

We’re all in the same boat now.