Speculations Ascending Splash Mountain

nothing I can assume about her hair pulled back so tight

nothing I can assume in her children

nothing I can assume about her forehead

where the hair, I am sure,

once plugged into her

lower than this

nothing I can assume of her cellphone,

her bedside table, what

weighs heavy on her

husband

nothing I can assume of his name on her chest

nothing I can assume of my own bare feet

slapping against the faux

brick, weaving through the empty

line

prying my fingers from my sticky

slowpoke sister’s

nothing I can assume about where

they bought the plastic

ponchos, can’t assume

why she’d ride this to stay dry

but to evade, evade, evade.

Laura Miller (she/her) is a reader, writer, and aspiring horse girl from Philadelphia, PA. She is interested in landscapes and cityscapes, and the vibrant sensory experiences of each that tend to trigger different things in us. More of her work can be found in Scoundrel Time magazine and UArts’ Underground Pool.