Tag: society

Weight of the world

Olympian pole vaulter

who leapt to heights

with passion as impetus

flopped back sprawling

mewling and crawling

as expectations bore down

Outside the box

Marcus paced the living room. On the couch, his mother stared into space while his father flipped a magazine. They weren’t too happy with his engagement. They preferred Jessica to Jose. Marcus, however, had decided.

“Would they like me?” José had doubted. “I’m marrying you, and I love you.” Marcus had replied every single time.

“José—weird name for a girl.” His father broke into Marcus’s thoughts. “Jecintha,” his mother responded.

“Oh.”

Marcus paced faster.

When the doorbell rang, he ran. His transman fiancé, José, looked as smart as ever. Together they walked inside, Marcus eager to release his burden.

Corporate promises

“But—”

Mason interrupted Peter in mid sentence. “No more discussions. You should leave.” Peter stood rooted, eyes welling up. Mason cut in. “Peter, don’t make me call security.”

Peter turned, and with his head low, walked out leaving the building that had been his office and the people who had been his family for the past seven years.

He’d been faithful in times good and bad. Even when the company declared near-bankruptcy, and the rats left the sinking ship, Peter had been there. He loved his job so much that he offered lifetime loyalty.

The company offered no such thing.