Aubade with Causality
By Selen Frantz
April 15, 2026
April 15, 2026
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An etymology lesson—the French aubade
derives from the Spanish alba, meaning dawn, derives from the Latin albus, meaning white. This must be the place of eternal morning,
where the plaster-coated walls shine like eggshells and crack just as readily. As the November sunrise creeps across the floor,
you stir and pull closer on this twin-sized plastic mattress. Your breath falls warm on my bare chest and I try to hold onto the passing minutes as your
heavy sigh syncopates with the beating clock. Movement will bring departure, which derives from these hours together. The road will be long
and high-velocity; the sky will fade towards black. |
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Selen Frantz is an urban planner from Detroit and is currently the William T. Battrick Poetry Fellow at Oberlin College. Their work has appeared in Lucky Jefferson, BarBar, Meniscus, Prime Number Magazine, and elsewhere.
Instagram: @a.j.frantz
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Author’s Note:
I chose to explore etymology to build a sense of avoidance in the speaker’s mind. By observing anything but the scene around them, the speaker chooses to not face the approaching departure. The lack of active verbs suggests motionlessness, or the moment being purposefully slowed down, as if the speaker is savoring it. I wrote a first draft of this piece while on the Ohio Turnpike, driving my partner back home after a weekend together.