Beth Kanter
Salty Old Lady (c. Day Three-present)
She chain smokes cigarette butts floating on her surface. Blows briny rings up toward my face. Clears plastic Mountain Dew bottles, condom wrappers, and rejected prose from the high tides of her throat before informing me we’ve got it wrong. All wrong. I was the first woman -- before Eve, before Lilith, and definitely, before you. I’ve been here since day three. I look back Lot’s wife style. Consider the shore, her. Float in the imagined wake of sperm whales, sea pigs, and butterfly fish. Can no longer recall my own narrative when her body coils around mine.
--
Beth Kanter’s work has appeared in a range of publications including X-R-A-Y, Whale Road Review, and New Flash Fiction Review. Beth’s novel-in-progress, Paved with Gold, received a UCLA James Kirkwood Literary Prize. When not writing, Beth leads creative nonfiction workshops, works individually with other writers, and attempts to grow things in the ground -- the latter with varying levels of success. Follow her on Instagram and Bluesky @beekaekae.
Beth Kanter’s work has appeared in a range of publications including X-R-A-Y, Whale Road Review, and New Flash Fiction Review. Beth’s novel-in-progress, Paved with Gold, received a UCLA James Kirkwood Literary Prize. When not writing, Beth leads creative nonfiction workshops, works individually with other writers, and attempts to grow things in the ground -- the latter with varying levels of success. Follow her on Instagram and Bluesky @beekaekae.