ANYONE BUT ADAM, BY Courtney harler |
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It’s depressing that what I remember most about the Sistine Chapel is the “professional shushers,” to borrow someone else’s recent coinage. Those Italian men and women in dark suits, weaving through the crowd, shushing, sometimes pushing, gently but insistently, trying not to scowl in that sacred space. The chapel was crowded with unhappy tourists like us, and I just wanted to snap my fingers and poof them all away, both the shushers and the shushed—gone—and let us two be alone, at last. I wanted to stop crinking my neck and lie down on the cool floor to contemplate the peace above, that fervent, unattainable union with the god, untouchable by anyone but Adam. I wanted to hold your hand, to stop bickering for just once on this terrible trip, to lie beside you, without the roar of the whispering crowd shunting our minds and blocking our views. |
Courtney Harler lives, writes, and teaches in Las Vegas, Nevada. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Sierra Nevada University, where she received the Two Pines Award for Outstanding Creative Work. She has been honored to receive additional support from Writing By Writers, the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley, and the Nevada Arts Council. Courtney's work has been published worldwide, and a full list of her publications and related awards can be found at courtneyharler.wordpress.com.