p. hodges adams | It Was
like hiding beneath a chair in the palace while a king is ill.
or entering a classroom during a lecture. or discovering
one’s parents mid-intimacy, despite the divorce. it was like
undressing in a room with a tepid lock. or misquoting the poet,
to the poet’s face. it was like discovering i have food in my teeth
at the same moment the smoke alarm erupts and a dog escapes.
i have an open face—much too earnest for polite company. every
trace of fluid comes up ultraviolet. he saw the fact of me. the naked
craving in my affect. it was like tripping up the steps to the stage.
it was like entering a party and being asked to leave.
or entering a classroom during a lecture. or discovering
one’s parents mid-intimacy, despite the divorce. it was like
undressing in a room with a tepid lock. or misquoting the poet,
to the poet’s face. it was like discovering i have food in my teeth
at the same moment the smoke alarm erupts and a dog escapes.
i have an open face—much too earnest for polite company. every
trace of fluid comes up ultraviolet. he saw the fact of me. the naked
craving in my affect. it was like tripping up the steps to the stage.
it was like entering a party and being asked to leave.
p. hodges adams received their MFA from the university of virginia. their work has appeared or is forthcoming in cutbank, new orleans review, december magazine, arkansas international, northwest review, fourteen poems, and elsewhere. a 2023 tin house fellow, they were also the runner-up for the phoebe spring 2023 poetry prize and a finalist for both the 2023 c.d. wright emerging poets prize and the 2022 jeff marks memorial poetry prize. hopefully they will transform into a beam of sunlight someday soon.
Haley King, also known by their artist name GRVNGE LESTAT, is a Chicago based LGBTQ+ mixed media artist who primary uses illustrative methods to construct their body of work and combines that with digitally manipulating their own photography to achieve an effort to create their artistic world that houses themes of hauntingly provoking atmospheres.
Instagram @grvnge.lestat
Tik tok @grungelestat
Instagram @grvnge.lestat
Tik tok @grungelestat