When the woman at the party
brings up her episiotomy
while starting a slideshow
on her phone
of an infant,
the girl consults
her compass
of context
and determines
that this conversation
is turning medically
messy. The girl already knows
the map of this dialogue
because the girl
has no children,
and the woman
won’t believe
the girl
wouldn’t try
to have some.
“You’re still young; You’ll
change your mind.”
The girl says she has to use the bathroom.
It’s an excuse.
It’s an exit ramp,
but she has to change lanes
to avoid the preacher
who’d already asked her,
“So, do you work outside the home?”
The girl wonders
if she could discuss
religion if she moved North.
She remembers something
from World History
about Catholics living in northern
areas whereas Protestants
predominate the South
in more than one country.
Even so
this assumes
that these questions
of gender
and faith
would change
just because
of geography.
She tries to imagine
what it would be like
to travel down the middle
of some other script,
to follow
some other legend.
