Mignuette

Mignon Ariel King

A lot of cosmic energy, from very few men,

considering thirty years and some change

as active, confirmed bachelor-woman. Oh,

I had a good time, with intermittent grief, a

small percentage of horror. Not to mention

a parade of freak roommates, propped up

by friends’ lists of raving loons, drunk ravens,

ravishing, forbidden roommate romps--all

of that added up to 50% of take-home pay

to establish "Chez Mignon," where friends

came after they'd missed the train home

from drunkfests in Cambridge. We drank.

They passed out on the borrowed couch.

I corrected papers from night courses till

3 a.m. off nights, got to my dayjob by 9

to teach myself computer programs while

answering two switchboards. And my best

lover broke up with yet another chicklet he

had fallen for. Thus, my current dude was

pink-slipped out of my queen-sized nirvana.

And. And. And. Friday nights I'd save for me

and Chopin, Vivaldi, Mozart...but usually my

favorite bubble-soaking serenade was from

Placido, with mignonette wafting from his lips.

Mignon Ariel King was born in Boston, Massachusetts and has never left her home time zone. An alumna of Simmons University who identifies as a womanist, she worked for a few decades as a database assistant by day (at a lot of companies that no artist cares to remember) and an adjunct English instructor by night.In 2011, King created Hidden Charm Press in memory of her mother. She founded Tell-Tale Chapbooks in 2013, publishing single-authored chapbooks of poetry as well as the print journal of narratives Tell-Tale Inklings. Her blog is MakingBooksRock (dot) wordpress (dot) com.