“Welcome back, everyone,” Melody says, voice warm and practiced. “It’s so nice to see so many familiar faces in the crowd. Mostly because it means I can cut right to it.” A smallchorus of laughter floats around the room. “You know the deal—keep it respectful, no recordings unless the performer gives you permission, and always tip your bartender.”
A few scattered cheers ripple through the room. “Yeah! Let’s do this.”
Korie leans in closer, shoulder tucked against mine, attention already fixed on the stage. I shift with them, arm across the back of their chair.
The first reader performs something quiet and a little rough, her voice shaking at the edges but pushing through anyway. Korie instantly smiles. I watch them instead of the stage. The way their brow softens, the way their mouth presses together on certain lines, like they’re holding onto something, and the way their fingers curl lightly against my jeans during certain lines, like they remind them of me.
They’re no longer drowning in us—they’re breathing in it.
The night drifts, and a few more people perform. Some are good, some are awkward. One of them makes the entire room go quiet in that heavy, collective way that sticks with you.
Finally, Korie glances at me as if deciding something, then pushes their chair back. They squeeze my shoulder before walking to the stage, nodding to the host. When it’s their turn, they settle into the chair and unlock their phone, reading from the screen.
“My Steady Breath
I used to think love
was something that happened to me.
Like a tide pulling at my ribs,
deciding where I ended up,
deciding who I became in the process.
I spent a long time bracing for it.
For the moment it would shift
turn heavy
turn sharp
turn into something I’d have to run from.
So I stayed light.
Kept one foot already halfway out the door.
Laughed at the right times.
Left before anything could ask too much of me.
I even shut it down.
Turned away.
Refused to hear its voice.
I thought that was control.
I thought that was freedom.
Then you took my hand
on a busy sidewalk
like you wanted me to
