Facing the Music

Illustration by Lucy Murray-WillisSeptember 13, 2026, 11 AM ET Explore the October 2026 IssueCheck out more from this issue and find your next story to read.View MoreMy aunt, who in her mild imagination was Ginger Rogers lacking an Astaire, lived to the last a notch above her station, an exiled queen propped up by Medicare.A mirrored sideboard’s porcelain swans and swains (no Meissen, some Limoges, all very late) amount now to the bulk of her remains: even en masse, the daintiest estate.Bring bubble wrap and drive them to the thrift store. It’s not our place to ponder the true worth of fragile imitations, fortune’s gifts for ladies of noble taste and common birth.This poem appears in the October 2026 print edition.About the AuthorBoris Dralyuk, a poet and translator, is an associate professor of English and creative writing at the University of Tulsa, a Tulsa Artist fellow, and the editor in chief of Nimrod International Journal.