Jennifer McBain-Stephens
The Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding 1994 Museum
Viviana Olens and Matt Harkins built a museum in their Brooklyn apartment
dedicated to Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding.
*
What is up there?
Submit your request for entrance online.
That is good.
You are anonymous that way,
for a time.
Now wait for the “yes.”
Anticipation, sets in.
*
When the museum was launched:
Tonya wished them luck.
Nancy said “No comment.”
*
Meet at the corner bodega
Go up up up
to the third floor
into darkness.
Framed newspaper clippings
high bang gloss
press passes
judges’ cards
a diorama of the “incident,”
of that fateful day.
*
Suddenly,
In a glowing spotlight
like the familiarity of an old friend’s
hand,
The clouds part to reveal
cross-stiched profiles
Of Ms. Nancy and Ms. Tonya.
Sent from a woman in the Midwest
So domestic,
So warm, it
warms you.
The skater’s foreheads
eyelashes
cheek bones,
lips
chins
face off
in art
if not in life.
*
I know I’m a Nancy but I wish I had more Tonya in me.
It happened right after a practice session in Detroit.
Nancy got it in the
leg with a police baton.
What a Dynasty episode,
a shit storm.
Oh ex-husband Jeff Gillooly---
even your name comes to no good.
Nancy was only bruised.
*
Tonya was Oregonian working class scrappy.
Nancy followed the rules.
Tonya sewed her skating costumes..
Nancy wore Vera Wang.
Tonya said I made it here with spit and vinegar!
Tonya landed a triple axel first.
*
I might look like a Nancy but inside is a Tonya screaming to get out!
All the little girls say do do do da da da.
The hairspray will choke you if you let it.
We all aspire to chemical asphyxiation.
Get high as skyscrapers,
Get low as a badger scraping for grubs.
One grub at a time
squirms its way out of the hallway.
Changed for good.
Those girls were the face of America.
The cameras pointed at Nancy’s tear stained grimace
Her shrieks of whywhywhy
follow you down the stairs
pale pink lips
virginal white skating dress sweating diamonds
A banshee unleashed.
*
Walk down
the hallway
(It is just a hallway)
But it is lush.
Professional.
You want to smell
the lip balm,
athletic tape.
The Ice.
You almost do.
Then, like applause, it’s over.
*
We plan to take the show on the road
Our lease is up soon.
Viviana Olens and Matt Harkins built a museum in their Brooklyn apartment
dedicated to Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding.
*
What is up there?
Submit your request for entrance online.
That is good.
You are anonymous that way,
for a time.
Now wait for the “yes.”
Anticipation, sets in.
*
When the museum was launched:
Tonya wished them luck.
Nancy said “No comment.”
*
Meet at the corner bodega
Go up up up
to the third floor
into darkness.
Framed newspaper clippings
high bang gloss
press passes
judges’ cards
a diorama of the “incident,”
of that fateful day.
*
Suddenly,
In a glowing spotlight
like the familiarity of an old friend’s
hand,
The clouds part to reveal
cross-stiched profiles
Of Ms. Nancy and Ms. Tonya.
Sent from a woman in the Midwest
So domestic,
So warm, it
warms you.
The skater’s foreheads
eyelashes
cheek bones,
lips
chins
face off
in art
if not in life.
*
I know I’m a Nancy but I wish I had more Tonya in me.
It happened right after a practice session in Detroit.
Nancy got it in the
leg with a police baton.
What a Dynasty episode,
a shit storm.
Oh ex-husband Jeff Gillooly---
even your name comes to no good.
Nancy was only bruised.
*
Tonya was Oregonian working class scrappy.
Nancy followed the rules.
Tonya sewed her skating costumes..
Nancy wore Vera Wang.
Tonya said I made it here with spit and vinegar!
Tonya landed a triple axel first.
*
I might look like a Nancy but inside is a Tonya screaming to get out!
All the little girls say do do do da da da.
The hairspray will choke you if you let it.
We all aspire to chemical asphyxiation.
Get high as skyscrapers,
Get low as a badger scraping for grubs.
One grub at a time
squirms its way out of the hallway.
Changed for good.
Those girls were the face of America.
The cameras pointed at Nancy’s tear stained grimace
Her shrieks of whywhywhy
follow you down the stairs
pale pink lips
virginal white skating dress sweating diamonds
A banshee unleashed.
*
Walk down
the hallway
(It is just a hallway)
But it is lush.
Professional.
You want to smell
the lip balm,
athletic tape.
The Ice.
You almost do.
Then, like applause, it’s over.
*
We plan to take the show on the road
Our lease is up soon.
Jennifer MacBain-Stephens went to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and currently lives in the DC area. She is the author of four chapbooks. Recent work can be seen/is forthcoming from Pretty Owl Poetry, Yes, Poetry, Gargoyle, Jet Fuel Review, Glittermob, Moss Trill, Pith, So to Speak, and Hobart. She once fist bumped Marc Blucas (“Riley Finn” in Buffy the Vampire Slayer). For more, visit: http://jennifermacbainstephens.wordpress.com/.