Ethel

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Ethel

Ethel

Comfort Event

by
Todd Colby & Joanna Penn Cooper
with art by Todd Colby
Todd Colby is an artist and poet. His writing and art have recently appeared in Iterant Magazine, The Believer, Bomb Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, Denver Quarterly, Dizzy Magazine, Hyperallergic, and Poetry Magazine. He is the author of six books of poetry, his most recent book, *Splash State*, was published by The Song Cave.
&
Joanna Penn Cooper is the author of *The Itinerant Girl's Guide to Self-Hypnosis* (Brooklyn Arts Press), *What Is a Domicile* (Noctuary Press), and *Crown* (Ravenna Press), as well as several chapbooks. Joanna's recent chapbooks are *When We Were Fearsom*e and *Wild Apples: A Flash Memoir Collection with Writing Prompts*, both from Ethel. She is currently working on a full-length collection of flash memoir pieces dealing with motherhood, origins, and power, tentatively titled A *Wilderness of Her Own*. She lives in Durham, NC. She teaches writing classes and provides editorial and coaching support to writers through her business Muse Writing & Creative Support.
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from Comfort Event

Aubade

I woke up rude on a lovely day and used a mortar and pestle
to grind down my last contact lens into a fine powder.
I washed my hair with avocados and potting soil, as per
the usual bullshit I get myself into when I can’t sleep.
I can only hope that your high regard for me remains intact
despite this evidence of my nighttime proclivities. In springtime
I ogle the knees, shoulders, and other bendy parts of young adults
in my neighborhood. I like their style, they seem secure with
the world falling apart. That red mark near my left eye is really
okay with people. My orthotics won’t stop squeaking and
I never get street harassed anymore, but my essential quality
remains. It’s what the French call je ne sais quois, combined
with what the Russians call nadryv, combined with what
the Spanish call duende, combined with what the English
call “g’day guv’ner!” I love that movie!