We got Dairy Queen coupons in the mail today. How do these companies even end up with our addresses, anyway? I thought about offering them to the assistant manager at work. She loved the pumpkin pie blizzard she had on her lunch break on Saturday, her first of the season. She was so skinny now, after the double mastectomy, but you could tell she still carried the weight of all the doctors and chemo and radiation. Cancer wasn't her only reason to be afraid. I remember her saying it would probably be her only one; her husband doesn't let her eat junk like that, not anymore. She told me once how he tells her every day that she ruined his life. Sometimes, he used to call the store and yell at us, say we were the reason she was always crying. I know it's worse than she admits. I feel guilty as I put the coupons in the trash, but it won't be worth the chicken tenders and ice cream.
🍨Brianna Booker is an autistic Jewish-American who writes about identities (or lack thereof). She founded and still runs Popcorn Poetry in her local non-profit movie theater. Brianna is the CCO at #nomorepoems presents publishing, where they also co-authored the chapbook "Just Two Kids." They will receive their BA in Creative Writing in March 2024 from SNHU.