Our Formal Get-Together

Laura James is a journalism graduate from The City College of New York, where she won The Goodman Poetry Award. After a few years reporting and teaching in Spain and Germany, James is now back in New York City writing her first novel. Follow her on Instagram @ljallday "Our Formal Get-Together" is in Short Circuit #11, Short Édition's quarterly review.

We became a hyphenated word likehonky-tonk, long-term, six-pack, full-timeWe dropped the dash likebutterfingers, afterthought, upstream, everythingWe fit the mold, independently, likehalf of something more complexWe simplified it;I stepped forward when you stepped backYou stepped forward when I stepped back;We blended into one word,A portmanteau, likespork, smog, froyo, brunchA portmanteau is a suitcaseIt opens into halvesI don't think we've closed upBut we have less friends than beforeOr we see them less. And I worry They don't care/don't knowIf I'm smoke or if you're breakfastBecause I can't

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