Published in Houston & Nomadic Voices Magazine Vol. 1, No. 2 (December 2013).
Why to Act Straight at a Urinal
Because it’s the only place in this bar where men look at one another when they speak; because in the bathroom—on the cracked once-white squares of tile, the corners chipped, the color a dull grey, standing before the walls decorated with graffiti and dried droplets of paint—someone can hit you from behind, into the enamel and metal mold, and the reflection in the flusher isn’t large enough to see them swinging; because it makes the stream sound stronger, like “a man” would piss; because the mirror is the best place to catch a curious man looking, but they never look if you do first; and because by the end of the night, you’ll have had too many vodka tonics to even try and fake it.
Austin Eichelberger 