19
I went to get a New York Times
I went to get a New York Times from a blue box on campus and walked
back to work. Then I went into the break room. I didn't read the New
York Times. I talked to Cow instead—she was on the couch with duct
tape and stains on it. She had a coffee in her hooves.
"You hear from any PhD programs Cow?"
"Yeah, Hawaii rejected me."
"They have a non-bovine policy?"
"No, the letter addressed me as Mr. Kao. They thought I was
Asian. There are too many Asians in Hawaii. They leave the old on
cliffs to die and they never die. They don't like my poetry and they
think I'm an Asian man now."
"I'm sorry." I said and I walked out of the break room into the
office and sat with the New York Times. They have great photos—a bomb
attack in Gaza killed a photographer for Reuters and fire comes from
the car and a kid is on the ground with blood and pieces of metal in
his face. He screams. I talked to Robin. She cleaned her feathers
and sat at the feeder.
"Cow didn't get into Hawaii." I said.
"That's awful."
"Yeah. They thought she was an Asian and Hawaii has too many Asians,
but probably not enough Cows."
"Yeah."
I never read the New York Times, the art section had a picture
of a couple with a house in Akron they bought for $65,000 and
renovated. They have no credit card debt. The husband writes for the
Akron-Beacon Journal and designed a billiards room. I sat at a
computer. I never read the New York Times, I just buy it and carry it
around. I walked back into the break room and Cow sobbed. She sobbed
with her coffee and I got a donut out of the box.
"You ok Cow?" I said.
"Yeah, I'm ok. I don't show my emotions. I withdraw, I'm a
Libra and Libras withdraw and rationalize." Cow knows astrology like
I know astrology, I'm a Taurus. "Hawaii has too many Asians. They
put their old on cliffs and they push them out on yachts in the
Pacific Ocean. That's why that won't take me. That's why. It has to
be."
I don't know anything. I don't know how she doesn't get in. I
don't read the New York Times, I just carry it around. I didn't read
it after I got it from the blue box. I walked back out into the
office and checked hockey scores, the Caps lost in overtime, 3-2, and
I
didn't write anything.
Philip Estes grew up in Dayton, Ohio, birthplace of Hall of Fame Thirdbaseman, Mike Schmidt, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and the Wright Brothers. Philip's work has been featured in Nexus a Journal of Literature and Art, and Origami Condom. He now lives in Kansas City, MO.
