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Vic Nogay

Unknown/U.S. Army - 4-Frame High-Speed Stroboscopic View of Bullet Hitting Armor, c.1968

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we pack and process death
into a bottle of “sad, shocked, scared...”
easier to swallow with a glass of water
than the blindside hit of screams,
or the whispered heat behind a bullet.

I’ve been drinking beer for three hours

in 4:33

it starts like jazz
the undercurrent of the air conditioner has no rhythm
but is constant
i feel my restlessness
teeth grinding
legs bouncing
readjusting
never still.
my dogs play the lead
their collars, a jingling chorus
their nails, clicking keys on the floor
as they pace about the room
in complete comfort
but no consistency.

and then,
i’m interrupted
with 1:52 left to go.
a falsetto whine, then two.
a dog has to pee.
a child has to pee.
i have to pee –
(i’ve been drinking beer for three hours)
but i hold mine and attend to everyone else
because that’s just how it goes these days.

Vic Nogay is an emerging writer whose work tends to explore small traumas, misremembrances, and Ohio, where she is from. Her poetry appears or is forthcoming in The Daily Drunk, Anti-Heroin Chic, and others. After graduating from Denison in 2010, she discovered a passion for animal welfare working as a humane agent. Her return to writing is a personal reclamation. @vicnogay