APRIL 23. Rebecca Papucaru
INTRODUCING MISS ZELDA ZONK
I leave my agent’s office with a pair of black eyes and a socialite’s nose. A blob of bovine matter no bigger than a sleeping capsule now corrects my recessive chin. The lye permeates my hair at the antebellum level, drugging every fibre, transforming my head from pulp to paper.
I mince past pyramids, courthouse, Fifth Avenue, saloon. My acting coach, lost light of Yiddishkeit, says, forget you have feet or a mouth. Like a jug of warm cream, I should just be at hand.
I reach Kresge’s drugstore, sit at the counter. Trapped like a pet chameleon pinned to a carnival-goer’s sweater. Me, a prophetess fresh from the Mojave Desert! Pulled up by the roots of my hair to take my place among the pantheon of gods and call girls. That firmament of lingering earthbound stars who only wanted space at the counter.
Introducing the new Miss Zelda Zonk. My first blond afternoon: trembling like a poodle on a drugstore stool. Trying to sizzle.
Rebecca Papucaru’s first novel, As Good a Place as Any, was named a 2025 Best Canadian Fiction Book of the Year by CBC Books. Her work has appeared in journals in Canada, the US, and Ireland, and several anthologies, including The Best Canadian Poetry in English. The Panic Room, her debut poetry collection, was awarded the 2018 Canadian Jewish Literary Award for Poetry and was also a finalist for the A.M. Klein Prize and the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, while her short story “Yentas” was awarded The Malahat Review’s 2020 Novella Prize. An excerpt from her novel-in-progress received special commendation in The Novelry’s international Next Big Story competition.
All through the month of April, we’re sharing a poem a day, celebrating the vibrant voices of our local poets writing in English. This initiative is coordinated by Angela Leuck, publisher of Shoreline Press.
Join us as we explore the creativity and stories of our community, one poem at a time.