By Meredith Davidson

There were pretty girls in the yard yesterday.  
They licked their lips, and spiraled their hair 
in part with confidence, 
and in part with boredom,  
as less pretty boys assured them 
that beauty is pain,  
but more importantly, beauty is time. 
They all hurried inside to check the expiration dates 
The family dogs nipped and yipped around their ankles 

Pretty girls in hours with dogs dutifully at their feet 
They might’ve been portraiture subjects 


The pretty girls retreated to the first floor to help set for dinner,  
Passing paintings and pictures parallel the staircase 

The girls laid out napkins
Their mothers offered nods 
of approval 
which the girls took as validation,  
and preened as they waited to be served.  
Their grandmothers bit their lips as they fumbled with the packaging.  
Must the salad assembly always be such a hassle 
when it’s just an accessory to meals anyway? 
Like napkins, the girls laid themselves on the table,  
as their grandmothers called all to eat.    

Garden Before Twilight by
Janis Butler Holm

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Meredith MacLeod Davidson is a poet and writer from Virginia, currently based in Scotland. A graduate of Clemson University with a degree in English, her work has been published in The Bookends Review, Eastern Iowa Review, Hawaii Pacific Review, and elsewhere. Meredith serves as an associate editor for Arboreal Literary Magazine, a contributing editor for Barren Magazine, a staff reader for The Maine Review, and as an editor of From Glasgow to Saturn, the literary journal of the University of Glasgow, where she is currently pursuing an MLitt in Creative Writing.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Janis Butler Holm served as Associate Editor for Wide Angle, the film journal, and currently works as a writer and editor in sunny Los Angeles. Her prose, poems, art, and performance pieces have appeared in small-press, national, and international magazines. Her plays have been produced in the U.S., Canada, Russia, and the U.K.

© 2024 DREXEL PUBLISHING GROUP 
All Rights Reserved

3141 Chestnut St.
Philadelphia PA 19104