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by Caroliena Cabada

At dinner, the napkin ring
cinches the cloth into a fan.
Next to me, a guest removes it
and remarks on the fine lines
carved into the wood. The scene
on the ring is a sunrise over
rolling fields of what must be
rice or other grain. Inside
the ring is smooth from being
polished with every napkin
that passed through. I chew
on my tongue and try not
to share my fun fact: that
the ring was crafted by
a prisoner. Unfree labor.
The glossy guests look at me,
appalled. I set my knife and fork
down, dab at the corners of my
lips, slip the ring back on the dirtied
cloth. With a clean hand, I reach
for my plate, pluck the food
with my fingers, swallow
the bite, whole.

Caroliena Cabada is a writer based in Lincoln, Nebraska. She teaches first-year composition and creative writing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she is earning her PhD in English. Her first book of poetry, True Stories, is forthcoming from Unsolicited Press in 2024.