TENANCY Part 9: Stephanie

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

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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.