Georgetown

“I’m not great at speak-

ing but I do love making

sounds,” I remember in

the florescent pinball li-

ghts and the flip flip din

dinging he spoke under

all of that noise and the

taste of Rainier beer in

the air, he whispered

when I looked at my-

self in the glass, my

eyes glowing teeth

glinting. He said,

“I’m ashamed.”

Joe Nasta is a foodie and poet vibing in Seattle. He has whispered four books of poetry into the world: I want you to feel ugly, too (2021); agony: love pomes (2022); blur/screenshot memories of platonic lust (2023); and salt-water poems (2024). He is the author of Halve It (2025), a collection of short stories available wherever books are sold. Ze is an associate editor for Elizabeth Ellen's Hobart. He misses the old pinball bar Flip Flip, Ding Ding in Georgetown, Seattle.