Jess Smith

People I Envy the Most

Easy sleepers, especially on planes.

Parents who enjoy pregnancy.

Anyone meeting my father
for the first time because that’s
the best of him
you’re going to get.

Men who have been inside me.
(I am the kind of person
I would like to fuck.) 

Homeowners with elaborate
Halloween decorations. 

Champagne flute women wearing satin robes
who wake up hungry
and proceed to eat breakfast.

The dead who know our secrets.

Not doctors but actors who play doctors.

Cobble Hill
Dads.

Anyone in silk without sweat circles. 

Myself at 28 who worried
more about which soup
had secret dairy than if
she would survive. 

The man next to me on this flight
who is sleeping soundly. 

We curl toward each other
like long-married lovers, his mask
slipping just enough for me
to recognize his soft mouth.

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Jess Smith is currently an Assistant Professor of Practice at Texas Tech University. Her work can be found in Prairie Schooner, The Cincinnati Review, 32 Poems, The Rumpus and other journals. She is the recipient of support from the Sewanee Writers' Conference and the Vermont Studio Center.