The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: Palm Up, Fingers Curled by Abby Lewis

This selection, chosen by Guest Editor Romy Ewing, is from Palm Up, Fingers Curled by Abby Lewis (Plan B Press, 2023).

Content Warning: sexual violence

Trout Fishing

She sits across from him at the small coffee shop,
gazes out the window speckled with rain.
She can see their reflections—the sudden,
sharp fish hook of her jaw, his long fingers
curled around the saucer of coffee between them—
so many things that can snare a person.

He looks at her, notices the soft seams of her sweater,
how the wide neck leaves ample room for her to maneuver,
snug and free as the trout that slipped away from his fine hook
last summer at Watauga Lake. The sudden glint of steel
off sunlight, the slight jerk of his hand on the rod in anticipation.
He could feel the hook claw harmless at the scales even then.

Abby N. Lewis (she/her) is the author of the full-length poetry collection Reticent (2016) and the chapbook This Fluid Journey (2018). She has two masters from East Tennessee State University, and she is currently pursuing an MLIS degree. Her creative work has recently appeared in Up the Staircase Quarterly, Across the Margin, Black Moon Magazine, and Red Eft Review. Her book reviews can frequently be found on Chapter 16’s website. She lives in Tennessee, where she wears many hats as a librarian, educator, tutor, and reviewer.

Romy Rhoads Ewing (she/her) writes from Sacramento, CA, where she was born and raised. Her work has appeared in HAD, Oyez Review, Rejection Letters, Bullshit Lit, Major 7th Magazine, and more. Her poetry chapbook please stay was published in 2024 by Bottlecap Press. Her hybrid zine, someday [everybody but] us will laugh about all of this, was briefly physically distributed at the 3rd Annual Hallow-Zine Fest and is available digitally. She also edits poetry and nonfiction for JAKE and runs the archival site SACRAMENTO DIRTBAG ARCHIVES. She can be found at romyrhoadsewing.xyz