TENANCY Part 9: Stephanie
by Victoria Adukwei Bulley
I walked past your house today,
on the way to mine
I thought I might stop by again
and we could talk a little or too long
until late preferably
until my phone rings –
somebody was in your porch
calling to someone else inside
who was maybe your mother, your sister
or even yourself
& I thought about stopping by
but it wasn’t your mother’s car
in the drive & no it wasn’t
your house any more.
We used to walk to the park at nighttime.
I used to tell you to quit your job.
What is a friend
but someone to sit with
on the swings
out in the darkness.
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Victoria Adukwei Bulley is a poet, writer and filmmaker. She is the winner of a 2018 Eric Gregory Award, and the recipient of a 2019 Technē doctoral scholarship for practice-based research in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London
***
TENANCY is a MAP project in twelve parts, presenting new work considering what it means to occupy somewhere–or something–temporarily. The project is curated by Helen Charman, MAP Commissioning Editor.
