THE OSCAR
by Margaret D. Stetz
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…for the “Best Adapted Life” goes to the women of my generation we make up most of the Academy and won though no one else would vote for us but learned at last to write our own names on the ballot then turn up with a speech for the acceptance that we’ve never felt of course the host has withering jokes at our expense but we don’t slap him we’ve always swallowed more at work at home in bed than pride when all our names are called we will not miss this moment although our bladders fill like Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons the trailing hems of gowns catch heels and trip us on the way to reach the stage where music has already played us off before we even speak the microphones the cameras shutting down we shout our thanks for one another’s help and strength into the emptying auditorium. Our afterparty invitations are for a future day we don’t know when but meanwhile stand just stand and keep our grip on something golden.
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Margaret D. Stetz, a lifelong feminist and a poet, is the Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and Professor of Humanities at the University of Delaware.
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FINALLY
by Jenna Le
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Ke Huy Quan waited long. Michelle Yeoh was told no. Then, this year, a path cleared: we were blessed with yes, yes.
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Jenna Le is the author of Six Rivers (NYQ Books, 2011); A History of the Cetacean American Diaspora (Indolent Books, 2017), a Second Place winner in the Elgin Awards; and Manatee Lagoon (Acre Books, 2022).