poem
Volume 26, Number 3

When Nothing Changed

We were driving—well, I was—
on the interstate somewhere, when you
went quiet, then said, I have to tell you
something.
I thought Shit—well, didn’t,
coz I didn’t swear, then—this is going to be
big, she’s on heroin, she has cancer, I don’t
know what to do.
Then you said,
emphatically, I’m gay, and I laughed coz
I was so relieved it wasn’t horrible, then
you laughed, and everything was as it had been.
But I am sorry, love, I didn’t realise how big
it was for you to have nothing change.


—Jennifer A. McGowan