NINETENTHS Press

Tell us ya worst.

HOW TO PACK YOUR BAGS / JAN HARRIS

I want to start by saying I am sorry for these habits that upset you
I want to start by saying I am a Libra and conflict avoidant
I want to mention all the generous things you have done for me
I’ll be honest and say I still love you which is why 
I want to say there are no victims in the collision of responsible adults
I want to tell you when I leave a piece of me will stop expanding
I want to thank you for the pavilion we built inside the winds
One day I will bow down in gratitude for this teaching
One day I will break open your leather attache case 
And sprinkle the dust inside across the Pacific Ocean
Or eat it with old toast 

JAN HARRIS / NASHVILLE, TN

Jan is terrified of cobras- all of them.  Every time David Attenborough produces a documentary about Southern India, Northern Africa, or Southeast Asia, Jan does not even watch the trailers. When National Geographic recommends a feature about the king cobra, Jan is filled with panic. The first nightmare Jan remembers was of a pink cobra (cartoonish, she knows, but she was three at the time).  The cobra told her she was not safe, and to be fair, she wasn’t safe, but the cobra couldn’t do anything about that.