the question presented itself:  “Do you want your whole career to be determined by The New Yorker?”  I don’t know why I didn’t understand that they were out of my league—that I was just a drop of water in the ocean to them, and, therefore, it would have been a very bad idea to […]

     You’ve shifted gears, now.  “yes, we’re moving a little faster now.”  The space between me and Alex had shifted—she didn’t seem to mind that she had a white collar job and i didn’t.  We were closer now than i’d conceded: if the conditions are right, then, yes, you follow your heart.  She was reticent. 

     “You’re supposed to look a little different from the way you do now.”  when is that supposed to happen?  i need to go in now, for the long haul.  the two us, then, Alexandria and I, were learning to repeat ourselves without getting annoyed (since it’s not always easy to get somebody’s voice right

     i was in my natural state   i was testing the waters   that was my intention; to make it possible for the working class to find representation in congress from working class people and or people that are underrepresented and searching for a contemporary voice.  “You wish, sometimes, that everybody could grow old with somebody—that

     that’s not me—that’s another voice: who’s voice?  i have to admit it sounded kind of like my default voice—the one in my head that i thought in, but that, nevertheless, did not sound the way my voice sounded on a recording.  now—i was chanting or counting   nen nen nin, non non nun  using a

     not that i don’t long for sweet release, but you’re miles a away from me—both literally and metaphorically.  What do i expect?  That you’ll take on my characteristics, my habits, my dreams, and make me feel like I’m a real woman?  Maybe you can’t do that—that’s all I’m saying, in which case, or, that

9      all is trouble on the western front   i’ve succeeded, no less, in getting your attention—as we roll tide, i belong, then, to the state of Alabama, which, for all I know, can disappear in an instant, just like my campaign for the presidency; and, with an election forthcoming, i guess i was hoping,

     i’ve had enough of this two-faced agreement—that everything i do is for us, and our families, when, of course, it’s just my family that i care about, even if i have a funny way of showing it, and on and on.  outcast by society   “but wait, who are you?”  i’m your friend, Regina!  My

     i think our man actually got his feelings hurt when he saw people pushing back—as if he had expected everybody to like him so much that he could be both a dictator and favored!  he trades money for influence   “as those in power do,” and, as we let my true love steep in, anything

     i see You coming—this is no ordinary stroll, and, if I have my way, i’ll bring you in, rest assured of that.  Alexandria wasn’t talking, so what was up with Craig?  he  used to paint, got pretty good at it, actually—he captured a few likenesses in his masterpiece, portraits of him and his siblings