The Wardrobe's Best Dressed: Gastromythology by Jessica Manack

This selection, chosen by guest editor Shira Haus, is from Gastromythology by Jessica Manack (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, 2024).

That Kind of Night

It was the kind of night when I plopped down on the curb
and threw up on my shoes. It was the kind of light that made
everything seem like a movie set. The kind of town where
you navigated by the Cathedral. No one knew what “suburb”
meant—it was that kind of country. Theirs was the kind of shade
that never claimed to cool. Theirs was the kind of antique air

that tasted centuries old. It was the kind of wine that did you in.
They were the kind of people who appraised us with their eyes.
You were the kind of drunk whose friends refused to walk
on the same side of the street. I claimed you and your stupid grin.
You were the kind of towhead American who couldn’t disguise
yourself. I was that kind of American too. I shouldn’t talk.

It was the kind of fun that was desperate, an oblivion.
Ours were the kind of thirsting mouths that never said no.
These were the kind of nights with blurry ends. The kind of gay
bars that were hard to find and called “Don’t Tell Anyone.”
You were the kind of guy whose motto was “Let’s go.”
I was the kind of girl who never paused with her “OK.”

Jessica Manack holds degrees from Hollins University and lives with her family in Pittsburgh, where she serves on the editorial teams of Belt Magazine and the Pittsburgh Review of Books and as poetry reader for TriQuarterly. Her recent work explores her family of origin, the melting pot of America in general and northern Appalachia in particular, and the challenges and joys of girlhood, womanhood and motherhood. Her writing has appeared widely in anthologies and journals, and her poetry collection Gastromythology was published in 2024 by Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, as the winner of their First Chapbook Contest.

Shira Leah Haus (she/her) is a queer, antizionist Jewish writer from Michigan. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Poetry Magazine, Passages North, Poetry Northwest, and wildness, among others. She has received support from the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference and placed third in the 2024 Pinch Literary Awards for poetry.