Waitress with a Chance of Death by Heidi Slettedahl

The flight attendant read through the entire bumpy flight.
A thick book, not easy to carry on a plane.
Perhaps she got extra luggage,
a certain benefit for being a waitress with a chance of death.

She never served us on the flight.
The pilot told her to remain seated.
But she stood instead, her back to us.
A sort of defiance I admired, if simultaneously abhorred.

What is poetry if not a transcription of the world made more beautiful?



Heidi Slettedahl is an academic and a US-UK dual national who goes by a slightly different name professionally. She has been published in a variety of online literary journals. She is the author of Mo(u)rning Rituals (Kelsay Books, 2024).