Jackie Sizemore: Yes, That Monet

Photo: Joanna C. Valente

YES, THAT MONET

I chopped my spring short
dined on bulk oatmeal
squatted on airport floors
squeezed into a purple plane
hauled a suitcase through multiple metros
cooked in a closet kitchen
did not overwhelm the mini fridge with my American-ness
bathed in a hamster-cage shower
let the neighbors’ cigarettes air-dry my long hair
bore holes in all my socks
and wore one sweater for a month.

I negotiated through my incorrect train ticket
pooled the last of my Euros for the bus
to get all the way to Monet’s Garden,
and it’s fucking raining.

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Jackie Sizemore is a writer, educator, and entrepreneur. With no hometown to speak of, she comes from the Rustbelt, the South, and Tokyo. Her prose has previously appeared in Citron Review, Mojo/Mikrokosmos, Eastern Iowa Review, Paper Darts, Opossum, Ravishly's Long Reads, and is forthcoming in the Crab Orchard Review. Poetry has appeared in Noble / Gas Qtrly. Her novel-in-progress was a finalist for the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, her flash memoir was longlisted for the Alpine Fellowship, and her lyric essay was listed as a Notable Essay in the Best American Essays 2018. She received her MFA from Boise State University.