Utah is a Lesbian By Sophia K. Metcalf

By The Rising Phoenix Review on June 23, 2024

Utah is a Lesbian

Utah is a lesbian - all silt, water, and curves
"I'm straight," she says, a wink, as her highways curl the mountain
The corner of a smile and her white cloud teeth
Upper lip split from the heat

Utah is a lesbian and she drives a truck and always keeps an extra sweater in the back
Your first night together
She shows you a cracked toenail moon and all its galactic echoes
Starlight
Air so thin you can taste her ribs pressed up against that great big sky as she whispers
"This is god's country"
Before running her nails down your back

Utah is a lesbian and she is a natural redhead and don't you forget it
She takes you dancing on a Sunday
In a hollow full of honeysuckle
Eyes wide open and baby blue
She paints her toenails green
Her lipstick rosy
And she hides her weed until she knows she can trust you.

You can't say you love her
She scares you too much for that
But there's something about her that pulls you in
In her red sand dirt
In her forever stars
In her milky ways
In her galaxies
In her winds
In her single-leaf trees
In her crickets
In her rains on the mountain
In her Rocky Mountain highs
In her highways
As she rocks you
Sweet thing
To sleep.

By Sophia K. Metcalf

Biography:

Sophia K. Metcalf (they/them/theirs) is an NYC-based actor, musician, and writer. In New York, they have worked with Tectonic Theatre, the New York Neofuturists, and The Acting Company. Recent regional credits include: Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet (Hudson Valley Shakespeare), Ariel in The Tempest (Utah Shakespeare Festival), and the Fool in King Lear (Santa Cruz Shakespeare). In addition to their stage career, they create their own work including Guilty Party (Cosmic Cherry Arts, in collaboration with Sage Newman and Granite Garden) and Mother of God (UC Irvine, Research and Travel Grant Recipient). They have their MFA In Acting from UC Irvine and their BA from McGill University. IG @sophiakmetcalf. www.sophiakmetcalf.com