1. So do you read literature?2. Yeah.3. Placated and ventilated4. In the room’s relative dimness,5. She waited for the moment6. To pass.7. Then they saw the medieval8. Knights, whose armor9. Did not seem comfortable.10. Would you like something11. To eat?12. Yeah, indefinitely.13. She practiced hinging at the hips14. To correct15. A historical inaccuracy, the16. Hypermobility of the spine.17. A man tipped his forehead on18. A windowpane, next19. Had difficulty finding words.20. I still had these problems21. With my alveoli,22. She informed the doctor…23. What else do you need to know?24. He shrugged.25. She never saw him again.26. Nothing is quite analogous.27. The problem was amorphous.28. Data accretes like islands29. In Scotland!30. Everybody wants to buy.31. Even her32. Stern nurse.33. She had asked for assistance34. The predictable thing occurred.35. On the angle of a felt36. Mountainside called37. Chimney Rock38. Her boyfriend began to slip…39. It wasn’t just the lack40. Of proper footwear.41. Walking poles42. Afforded him stability43. On the mound of dirt44. Which implied the ground45. Like sulfuric ash.46. And it was.47. It’s good to have a purpose,48. An end goal,49. His guide firmly stated.50. When your refrigerator breaks,51. It’s good to have a job52. Even if it entails53. Buying a new refrigerator54. And then the old one rears55. Up again.56. Let’s go through the American Wing57. And then to ancient Egypt,58. Where they filmed59. That scene.60. Two lovers reunite.61. Are you in the elevator?62. Yeah.63. Oh, that’s where?64. Go outside, she urged.65. Look.66. Every person is wearing67. Brown leather mules.68. Hard not to notice the69. Sulfuric smell70. With no effect71. On said leather mules.72. Every millisecond73. Value is processed.74. Every millipede possesses75. Numerous legs 76. And shuffles in like an elevator77. Or toilet paper78. A white American child79. Like Goldilocks80. Looks around81. Her arms82. In every luxury campground83. With unlimited sinks.84. Among other tabulations of85. Wealth and value.86. It all happens on the inside,87. And yet it’s worthless88. If you don’t perceive it.89. On the other hand, they x-rayed90. My lungs just once,91. And on the phone92. Told me93. They didn’t find anything of94. Note95. Besides lungs, of course.
Metropolitan
Feature Date
- December 19, 2024
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Copyright © 2024 by Patty Nash.
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission.

248
New York, New York
Editor
Emily Stokes
Managing Editor
Kelly Deane McKinney
Poetry Editor
Srikanth Reddy
Since its founding 1953, The Paris Review has been America’s preeminent literary quarterly, dedicated to discovering the best new voices in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The Review’s renowned Writers at Work series of interviews is one of the great landmarks of world literature. Hailed by the New York Times as “the most remarkable interviewing project we possess,” the series received a George Polk Award and has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. With the December 2016 redesign of the Review’s website, the complete digital archive of everything we’ve published since 1953 is available to subscribers. In November 2017, the Review gave voice to nearly sixty-five years of writing and interviews with the launch of its first-ever podcast, featuring a blend of classic stories and poems, vintage interview recordings, and new work and original readings by the best writers of our time.
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