President’s Day Party

James Torgerson / V Mag at UVA

Presidents’ Day Party

Room 41 W Lawn

February 20, 2023

Two Lincolns spill onto the arcade,

twinning top hats obscuring Kennedy’s 

fake blood, bright as his Solo cup.

There are too many Jeffersons. 

I weave through the wigs to her room.

It’s hot. I take off my coat to reveal 

a well-worn Biden 2020 t-shirt.

She’s wearing just a black top, 

although I guess the invite 

said to come as the president 

of anything, even a UVA club.

She guides me into the crowd,

offering me my pick of a Bold Rock 

variety pack and a bottle opener.

After catching up on our weekends,

she mills, and I take another swig. 

Her room starts to slip into silhouettes

bouncing between walls and window,

between gavels lining her folding desk

and thick biographies of statesmen,

between a bronze trophy of a grizzly bear

from a Model UN conference in California, 

and a bite of lemon pie, soft and sour,

baked by the neighboring Honor Chair

with whom I talk about the referendum.

The specifics skid, and I simply nod along.

Bush, guessing from the leaves,

pats me on the shoulder, leaning in 

to whisper, your fly’s down, bud.

As I blush, the Room Seven Resident,

who I had seen in an oratory contest,

introduces herself. I can’t find words

in the speaker’s tangle of questions, 

so I glance away to the window, 

watching the reflection of our scene:

sweaty bundle of bodies dancing, swirling 

beneath the bubble tea plush in her bed. 

I borrow her peeling student ID 

to use the restrooms behind the Lawn,

but I can’t find them, and I don’t ask.

As I’m pissing in a bush in the cold, 

looking at the stars, I pause and consider

that maybe I shouldn’t be out on a Monday.

It’s not my last semester. I have schoolwork.