Land of the Snakes
Rhaiah Spooner-Knight
COURTESY CALLS
Jennifer Schneider
A courtesy phone
hangs on the wall
opposite our holding cell
and next to the guard’s desk.
Black lacquer. Tightly coiled cord.
—Glimpses of our reflections on the receiver's handle.
The phone rings. Often.
No one answers. Ever.
Chief alluded to calls
from the city morgue next door.
—That’s when we canceled plans for the heist.
Jen Schneider is an educator, attorney, and writer. Her work appears in a wide variety of literary and scholarly journals.
Rhaiah Spooner-Knight: A 2018 graduate of Monmouth University with a BFA, I was born and raised in New Zealand. After graduating high school, I was offered a Division I women's basketball scholarship at Utah Valley University. Though a graphic design major, I decided to transfer—for its athletics—to Monmouth University in New Jersey where I played my remaining year of basketball and also switched my major to Fine Arts.