He’ll take you to Bryn Mawr Avenue.
Bryn Mawr Avenue, I said?

Bryn Mawr Avenue, he said.
The housekeeper at 7:30, he said,
The kids fed by 8.

He’ll take you to Bryn Mawr Avenue.
Be ready at quarter to 8.
Bryn Mawr Avenue gets busy
around rush hour. You’ll need time.

A black car, he said.
A black car? I said
The kids fed by 8.
He’ll take you to Bryn Mawr Avenue.
You’ll need time.

Bryn Mawr Avenue has
many businesses. Your ride
will wait in the car. Will wait
in the car? I said. In the car,
he said. Do you own     slacks?

Slacks? I said. Slacks,
in case you leak. I hear you leak
afterwards. Leak, I said.
He’ll take you to Bryn Mawr
Avenue. The kids     8.

Bryn Mawr Avenue, he said.
The housekeeper will come at 7:30, he said,
The kids fed by 8.
Is the traffic? If you     don’t
forget the envelope, he said.
Envelope? I said.

Envelope. If he forgets to pay you,
call Grace at my office. No. Right.
Tomorrow. It has to be tomorrow.

He’ll take you to Bryn Mawr Avenue.
You don’t own slacks? Your skirt is open.
You won’t want something open.

You won’t want
to wear a dress. Can you borrow slacks
from your sister? Alice, right?
Alice.       She’s a bit
bigger than you, should fit you.
Slacks, he said,
in case you leak. I hear you leak
afterwards.
Leak, I said.
The kids     8.

At Bryn Mawr Avenue, slacks
on leather feels different
than on skin. The smoke from your cigarette,
I’m nauseous. It’s early so I get nauseous.

It will be gone soon. Ten blocks. Why do you worry?
Call Grace when you are done and
I’ll pick you up on Bryn Mawr Avenue.

Bryn Mawr Avenue? I said, Is a long street.
You have an envelope for me? I said.
It’s heavy, are you sure this is for me?
I said. Yes, he said. Moran wants to make sure
you get this done, he said.

I’ll pick you up on Bryn Mawr Avenue
after. Call Grace when you are done and I’ll
pick you up. Take this. It’ll be gone soon.
Two blocks. Why do you worry?

Jenna Goldsmith earned her PhD from the University of Kentucky in 2016 and is an Instructor of Writing and English at Oregon State University Cascades in Bend, Oregon. In 2014, she received the inaugural Kentucky Writers Fellowship for innovative poetry from The Baltic Writing Residency. Her scholarship and poetry have been featured in disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory and Rabbit Catastrophe Review, and “Fieldwork: An Interview with Juliana Spahr” was published in the most recent issue of ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment.