I’ve been blessed to experience them all: lambskin, deerskin, suede, nubuck, saddle, belting, even fandango calf, which is unborn calf and makes me superstitious. We’ve got a new employee, Jared, with the most gorgeous complexion. I’m sure he flirted with me all day yesterday. Now I’m waiting for him in backstock. The Italian calfskin portfolios that arrived today with their earthy scent are stacked in silky splendor. They don’t have buckles or zippers, just a soft flap. Here comes Jared now. He stops when he sees the leather and my satiny nakedness crowning it, chokes, “Didn’t you know I’m vegan?”

Luanne Castle’s

poetry and prose have been nominated for the Pushcart, Best Small Fictions, and Best of the Net; and have appeared in Bending Genres, Copper Nickel, Does It Have Pockets, The Dribble Drabble Review, The Ekphrastic Review, Flash Boulevard, Pleiades, River Teeth, Saranac Review, South 85 Journal, TAB Journal, Verse Daily, and other journals. She is the author of two full-length poetry collections, Rooted and Winged (Finishing Line Press 2022), a Book Excellence Award Winner; and Doll God (Kelsay Books 2015), which won the New Mexico-Arizona Book Award for Poetry. Her chapbooks are Our Wolves (Alien Buddha Press 2023) and Kin Types (Finishing Line Press 2017), a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award. Luanne lives with five cats in Arizona along a wash that wildlife uses as a thoroughfare.

Author’s website: https://www.luannecastle.com/