"Bloodlines, I" by Tricia Louvar
"First Date" by Rayelee McFee
So, what are you?
Your eyes are beautiful. Are they real?
What about your hair?
All yours?
Can I touch it?
Say something in Spanish.
That’s hot.
Oh. Well you could definitely pass for Latina
or something other than black.
You’re actually really pretty for a black girl.
You’re my first.
I bet your momma’s white, huh?
I love mixed girls,
I’ve always wanted one.
Let me know if I’m getting too personal.
You got pink nipples or brown ones?
I’ve always wondered.
You’re so quiet. Makes you seem stuck-up.
Let me see you smile.
Can I get a hug?
A kiss?
Something?
You’re gonna call me,
right?
Your eyes are beautiful. Are they real?
What about your hair?
All yours?
Can I touch it?
Say something in Spanish.
That’s hot.
Oh. Well you could definitely pass for Latina
or something other than black.
You’re actually really pretty for a black girl.
You’re my first.
I bet your momma’s white, huh?
I love mixed girls,
I’ve always wanted one.
Let me know if I’m getting too personal.
You got pink nipples or brown ones?
I’ve always wondered.
You’re so quiet. Makes you seem stuck-up.
Let me see you smile.
Can I get a hug?
A kiss?
Something?
You’re gonna call me,
right?
Rayelee McFee is a senior undergraduate student majoring in Creative Writing at the University of Central Oklahoma. She lives in Edmond, Oklahoma and currently splits her time between school and her two daughters. She loves writing poetry and short fiction that examines the intersection between her truth as a modern, multicultural woman and her “red dirt” culture.
Tricia Louvar lives in the Pacific Northwest and studied journalism, poetry, aesthetics, and documentary photography in college and beyond. She works in publishing as a visual artist and writer. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Brevity, Orion Online, Zyzzyva, and more. tricialouvar.com
Artist Statement: At a Saturday kaffeeklatsch, after splitting a piece of banana bread, I am the one nibbling pieces of its raw sugar left behind on the plate. Such an instantsummarizes my artistic impulses of focusing on the leftovers and the overlooked. I investigate the human condition and its relationship to impermanence with digital and analog tools.
Artist Statement: At a Saturday kaffeeklatsch, after splitting a piece of banana bread, I am the one nibbling pieces of its raw sugar left behind on the plate. Such an instantsummarizes my artistic impulses of focusing on the leftovers and the overlooked. I investigate the human condition and its relationship to impermanence with digital and analog tools.
