| The Actress's Daughter by Qiana Towns Mommy adjusts the tiny pillow beneath her knees as she fastens straight pins on the hem of a white woman's dress. Two young girls stand downstage with their backs to the audience. I notice the absence of props. The white woman asks for her line as Mommy repeats it before the director's assistant can find the page in her script. Mommy winks from her knees and I try, but blow her a kiss instead. This is where I find her most days during the school year. My arrival signals an end to her day of line rehearsal and stage prep. We hold hands in our mittens as we leave the theater. Mommy listens as I talk about how her puffy cheeks make her look like Juanita Moore. She tosses her hand knitted scarf around her neck and retreats into her thoughts. I wonder silently why we ever left New York, why she abandoned her dreams of Broadway. But I'm afraid I'll hurt her if I ask. We recite the poems of Nikki and Amiri as we wait for the bus. She never cuts me off or corrects me when I get a line wrong. Instead, she pauses or mouths the words until I get back on track. We don't even stop speaking as we pile onto the bus for the ride down to the shelter. |
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Qiana Towns holds a MA (with a concentration in creative writing) from Central Michigan University. Her work has appeared in Temenos and Central Review and will be included in the forthcoming all-poetry issue of Pindeldyboz. Her awards include Jett.com National Poetry Month Prize. She is currently pursing a Master of Fine Arts in poetry at Bowling Green State University. |