May 30, 2021 - Patricia Gordon’s “The Exposed Lady”

THE EXPOSED LADY

The most important person in my life passed away last year. My heart is broken. I can't hug, see, hear, or laugh with my deceased loved one anymore. Still I ride on an M104 bus one sunny, unseasonably warm day in February. I get goosebumps on my arms from the coolness from the bus’ air-conditioning. 

When I look out my window, I see a woman walking down the street. Her hair is a messy updo of tangled black curls. She wears black baggie pants and black combat boots. She doesn’t wear makeup and looks like she’s in her late twenties or early thirties. 

She doesn’t seem to be perspiring; though she’s slowing her pace. She doesn’t walk fast; or she can’t walk fast. There’s black fabric that may have been a shirt that’s hung over half of her upper body, leaving the other half exposed. Her right upper body ––– arm, breast, one side of her waist ––– is on display.

She doesn’t slouch. She doesn’t beg for money or say a word. No one says anything to her. Only a few people notice her, but they don’t speak; almost in shock. 

My grief makes me give enough of a damn to pray. I say a silent prayer for the exposed lady, hoping that she’ll be all right; hoping that no one will harm her; and hoping that she’ll do no harm to anyone else.  

- Patricia Gordon

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Patricia Gordon is a published New York fiction writer and artist. Some of her charcoal, pencil, ink drawings, watercolor paintings and collage works have been featured on the cover of and within the pages of Flashquake's literary and art journal. Her most recent illustrations can be found in her humor and fairy tale books (Funny?: a potentially humorous collection of writing and art and The Queen of Broken Hearts).