after the CEO's retirement party

you dropped a blanket on me while I rolled
across the carpet with your dog. Told me to move the hair strewn
about my face while I peered up at you, and I did
left the room when my face broke out into a smile
at something funny you said. A guy
from work had driven me home, and I was working
myself up to telling you, but then you said
“I don't care how you get home as long as you come home.”

Laila Nawsheen is an award-winning Sydney-based writer with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Creative Writing) and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons). Her poetry has been featured in Baby Teeth Journal, NWG Inc Pop Up Zine, ZineWest, Eureka Street, Not Very Quiet and will appear in future editions of Quadrant and Going Down Swinging.