people i may know

and what i think

in class she thinks she has a lot of authority because she’s older than everyone. short and white, mousy brown hair. thin facial features that pinch in to the center of her face. a laborous stride. she tilts her head when she talks, like she’s thinking a lot about the words that she’s saying. splays her fingers out, exploring the materiality of her words. what comes out is unimpressive. all that anticipation for nothing. as writers— she says as addresses all of us. very inclusive. but i don’t want to be included. not at all.

Retrato da Marquesa de Belas [Portrait of the Marchioness of Belas]

quick-footed, small boy in my macroeconomics class. elbows jut out from the sides of his body. rushes to the ends of sentences. excited to be finished. always done. some would call him uptight. i ask him what he thinks of himself at penn. weird question for this twitchy kid— “i’m a New Yorker, a New Yorker from Queens,”

Night in Bologna

pretty girl with a face much like other pretty faces. studies political science and communication yet i could never know what she thinks. watches what i eat at the table outside class. every tuesday. earrings are loud and dangling, long to her collarbone. anthetical to the rest of her. so same. similar. silver, rattling metal when she bends over. like she’s trying to say something with them, maybe, if i were to give her more credit. in a hopeful world she’d wear those earrings everyday. say something everday. but she doesn’t really say anything. just rattles.

Mummy Portrait: Woman with Necklace

big boots, bleached brows. gaudy rings and jewelry. unshaved armpits. art exhibition tomorrow, will i come? sure, i say. looking at their studded belt. so thin, the person is. everything could fit. everything on this person. a distinct smell of weed. cigarette butt on the table. i’m worried that this is the art, this person that is sitting next to me. and that i will go to the exhibition and it will be empty. it will just be them walking around, what do you think about this? and there will be nothing to think about. an empty corn husk, shaving itself down. throwing out everything in the gallery yet nothing is there. nothing is here.

Washerwoman Edgar Degas

annoying girl. jeans, white sneakers. hair tied back. big water bottle. stickers like i need a coffee rn. on top of work, on top of everything. can’t talk much about her. not much to say. fades into everything.

Metaphysical Drawing sc/101/2005

big boisterous body blushed cheeks bumbling brutishly boating banal boy. bastard!

El gallo, Juchitán, México