After Jade Lascelles

On a muggy morning,
I stepped out
to collect the trash
bin, already sweating
through my shirt.

My neighbor, a robust man of seventy,
leaned over his fence, eyes bright
with a self-satisfied gleam. He started talking,
eager to share his pride, circling around
the Supreme Court & how they’d
“finally made the right choices.”

His voice was firm, unwavering, cutting
through the humidity like a well-worn blade.
He spoke of rights overturned

with a kind of reverence,
as if he’d just won a trophy.
His hands gesturing
emphatically, slicing the air.

I tightened my grip
on the trash bin handle,
hoping he wouldn’t notice
my wince. I felt the familiar
prickling of anxiety,
my heartbeat quickening.

He stood too close, making my skin crawl.
To him, I was just a captive audience.

His cheeks puffed with exertion,
color rising as he delved into
“wanton women” & their
need to “cross their legs.”

His words were jarring, out of place
in the serene morning. He was in his element,
the icy light of his rhetoric making him loom larger.

I felt the weight of words pressing down on me,
each one a reminder of the widening chasm
between us. My pulse pounded in my ears,
and I could feel the sweat
trickling down my back.

His form overshadowed my small act
of bringing in the trash. For a moment,
I almost forgot the bin at my side.
But then a phrase—sharp & raw—brought me back.

It was like the sound of something tearing open,
a raw wound exposed. The urge to flee

became overwhelming, but I nodded
mechanically & retreated into the house.
The door closed softly behind me, a barrier
against the rising heat & the cruelty outside.

I locked it,
the click of the latch offering
a momentary sense of safety.

Bio: Caiti Quatmann (she/her) is a disabled poet and writer. She is the author of the poetry chapbook Yoke (MyrtleHaus) and Editor-in-Chief for HNDL Mag. She studied and taught writing at the University of Missouri St. Louis. Her work has been published by Samfiftyfive, Thread LitMag and others. Find her on Instagram and Threads @CaitiTalks.