Model plane, plane delay. Butterfly net, net income. Kite string, string theory. You have a knapsack packed with every reason for whiskey: a woman who loves you for loving her, a boss you call Boss. When I reach across the phone line—the phone Nile—to tuck you in at night, I feel your eyes flutter shut. Your body is balsawood light.

Erin Murphy’s work has appeared in The Best of Brevity, Best Microfiction 2024, and anthologies from Random House, Bloomsbury, and Bedford/St. Martin's. Her most recent book is Fluent in Blue (2024) and the lyric essay collection Mother as Conjunction (forthcoming from Harbor Editions).