We give updates on our dogs—
Beau is begging for a walk
Poppy thinks it’s dinner time. It’s not.
We share Severance fan theories.
Our work is mysterious and important.
We discuss our weekend plans
as if we stood by a water cooler
in an overly air-conditioned room.
It’s our way of saying we’re afraid
because two friends were let go
without warning, and we question
whether a childish man will steal
our paycheck, whether our words,
private on this call, are monitored—
if they’ll strip even our dogs’
names from our lips.
Hannah Comerford is an editor and writer whose work has appeared in Ekstasis, The Lumiere Review, The Unmooring, Fathom, and Please See Me, among others. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the Rainier Writing Workshop, where she is now Program Assistant. You can read more about her at www.hannahcomerford.com/. Hannah lives with her husband, son, and dog in Tacoma, WA.