A Case for Bumping

by Maya Nordine

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Knowing the kind of person 
I am, I’d urge you to keep me
at arm’s length, far away from 
anyone capable of being hurt. 
This is not to say I’m good 
at hurting. Just plainly unafraid 
to ask, What’s with the weak 
handshake? As it turns out,
you’d broken your hand,
months ago. Some tragic 
basketball accident.
Let’s forget about that—
divert the subject 
back to me! 
My most recent job interview, 
I extended my arm 
as if my hand was ripe for 
a kiss. I got the job. So,  
this comes at such a great 
time for you, really!
Shaking hands is so over.
Like calling your mother.
The subtle nod and smile 
to a passerby. Checking in 
with Eliza in the ER 
whose bad rash was the worst 
experts had ever seen. 
Emotional labor is so 2020. 
I just want to focus on your hand. 
I’ll admit I was jealous.
The untouchable softness of 
your fingertips, their perfectly
plush cuticles. The clean undernail
that not even Cleopatra, with all her servants and milk baths, 
could achieve. But you, not having 
to lift a finger in months, 
get so lucky. Anyway. 
Have you thought of el-bumping?

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Maya Nordine lives in sunny Chicago, where she co-runs Study Hall Workshops, a (currently) virtual multigenre writing workshop. She holds an MFA from Antioch University Los Angeles. She is a poetry reader and production assistant for NonBinary Review and Alphanumeric Podcast. Her work has been published in The American Journal of Poetry, bath magg, Small Orange, Door Is A Jar, and TYPO.