Reading the Novel Out of Order

Page 98 the recital dancers broke their arms in their last act broke them with their shoes really shattered them then twirled together into a knot/ a wad of limbs/ a clog of hair in a center stage drain and you joked/ why don’t you hold me that close?

Page 1 I dropped the jar of apple butter at the farmers market/ I was too short/ the jars were too high/ you had a laugh/ a chip in your tooth/ a jacket/ a denim jacket.

Page 374 we made love in an oyster-bar parking lot/ a joke/ of an anniversary/ the oysters were too creamy/ the brine of your upper lip still came to play/ in June’s evening heat/ no we weren’t caught/ weren’t even noticed.

Page 35 we snuck into the local aviary we had/ a mission/ full flasks/ important curse words to teach the parrots.

Page 432 sitting in this living room for the first time reading the whole thing/ together/ sitting as far apart as reading allows/ clawing silently at loose threads of the couch/ remembering how the story grows so dreary and predictable/ in the second half.

Page 2 you said you wanted to try a thing you heard about that makes people fall in love/ we took turns telling each other our most guarded secrets/ the dress I bought and never wore/ the time you drove home drunk and hit a dog/ then/ we stared silent into each other’s eyes/ for four whole minutes/ after just two I started to feel/ like brown was the only color.

Page 199 the film frightened us because the people in it loved each other/ fused their bodies into one/ died.

Page 8, Page 34, Page 15, Page 377 you wouldn’t stay past two am/ you’d sing Prince and James Brown always/ as you got dressed/ pulling straps over shoulders/ buttoning buttons/ I think you thought I was asleep (sometimes I was).

Alec Prevett is a poet and short-story writer. His work has appeared in or is forthcoming from BOOTH, Every Pigeon, formercactus, and a few other neat and wonderful places. In the fall of 2018 he will begin pursuit of his MFA in fiction writing at Georgia State University, where he also recently earned his BA in English. He lives and writes with a chubby calico cat named Patches.