The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed: The Fault by Marcela Sulak

This feature, chosen by Guest Editor Ezra Fox, is from The Fault by Marcela Sulak (Black Lawrence Press 2024).

NAMING THE ANIMALS

Shopping on Friday F tells his   wife   about   the   animals.
There   is a mouse   that’s made a   nest   in   the   sea chest
where he   keeps the rum. And a rat that is chewing the
feet of the furniture. He forgets its  name. It is a rat   or
a   mouse, he   feels very certain,   and there is a roach in
the bathroom. Well, it isn’t in the bathroom, it is   at the
foot of his wardrobe, but his wardrobe is near the bathroom.
If   he   sees    it    again,   he   will spray.   There are gecko
stars upon the screen but   those are just their feet,   not
really stars, and guinea pigs in the   garden, but we knew
that before.   On   Sunday F   enters the bathroom, poison
bottle   in   hand.   But   the only thing in the bathroom is
his wife, who looks   up   from the mirror. On her finger-
tip is a long thin whisker, or possibly a hair.

Marcela Sulak (she/her) has authored five poetry collections, most recently, The Fault, and the National Jewish Book Awards Finalist, City of Skypapers (Black Lawrence Press, 2021). Her six translations of poetry collections from Czech, French, and Hebrew, have been recognized by PEN and the National Endowment for the Arts. She is managing editor of The Ilanot Review, and she directs the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing.

Ezra Fox (they/he) is a Best of the Net nominee who lives and writes in San Francisco, CA and holds an MFA from Indiana University. A Breadloaf, Tin House, and Lambda Literary Fellow, and recipient of the Lili Elbe Memorial Scholarship, which recognizes transgender writers of exceptional promise, their work appears or is forthcoming in TriQuarterly, The Pinch, Fourteen Hills, Interim, and elsewhere. Additionally, they won the 2025 West Trade Review Poetry Prize, and currently serve as assistant judge of the Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest. Apart from writing, Ezra maintains a daily practice of reconnecting with their inner child: roller-skating, playing drums, and enjoying animated films and theme parks. In quieter moments, they can be found sharing cups of tea and sweet treats with their beloveds. Learn more about Ezra at ezrafox.net or on Instagram @ezraxfox.