Tall and Narrow

by Abigail Jensen

I’ve never known anyone to get excited
at the sight of a penis,

says the privileged cis lesbian
in all her honest beauty and glory
after throwing back a shot of
overpriced vodka.

She rests her forearms on the sticky bar
and whips her head in my direction.
I glare back while the others chuckle.

Whenever we stumble into this dimly-lit
establishment, she thrusts a hatred for men
upon her unsuspecting straight friends
when we’re just trying to enjoy
the last gulps of our cocktails.

Perhaps she has a point, and we offer her
another drink. I begin to consider—

the great male writers, pick any one you like,
and how they envision their morning fruit—
oranges, tomatoes, melons—as the soft flesh hung
from the shoulders of large-breasted women
and how often they find themselves aroused
in the produce section.

Yet I have never been stimulated
by the Washington Monument;
nor Buffalo’s City Hall, or really any city hall;
or neighborhood water tower.

The phallus appears over every hill, park,
kitchen, piece of art, and still,
I hardly notice these tall and narrow pillars
of stone bulging out of the earth.

Have I ever felt that way? Oh god,
is this privileged cis lesbian right?
She often is, and I consider if the many
sights of penises have ever excited me.

But those monuments, the obelisks,
municipal buildings, are just brick
and cement, and I’m not a horny
man holding an orange and
typing on a keyboard.

My fever swells with glimpses of real
muscle and skin and eyes even.

I snap back under the low lights
and inspect the shot that my friend
has placed in my peripheral.
I tell her,

I enjoy a good dick from time to time.

And throw the drink down my throat.

An Observation of Population

by Robin Young

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Abigail Jensen is a poet and playwright who recently completed her Master’s at the University of Glasgow. She received a 2025 finalist award from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and her work has been published in LOGOS, Red Coyote, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Artist Robin Young, based in Borrego Springs, California, works in mixed media with a focus on collage and contemporary art-making. Her emphasis is on collage art using magazine clippings, masking tape, wallpaper, jewelry, feathers, foil, etc. which allows her to delve deep into the whimsical and intuitive.