Clap When You Land wins... by a parking stall

We need to admit this was a narrow win. 

Parked is lovely, with interesting, quirky characters all circling about important issues of adequate pay, affordable housing, how our pasts shape our presents, how privilege and helping others sometimes clash, and who to trust when life leaves one living off used books and peanut butter in a bright orange van. 

But it was SO VERY LONG. 

Clap When You Land has some of the sparkle that Parked lacks. There are intense moments of loss,  a compelling relationship between sisters distanced by geography and lies, and some beautiful lines of poetry that tackle difficult issues of identity, like this gem:

“Mami wanted me to be a lady:

sit up straight, cross my ankles,

let men protect me.

Papi wanted me to be a leader.

To think quick & strike hard,

to speak rarely, but when I did,

to always be heard. Me?

Playing chess taught me a queen is both:

deadly & graceful, poised & ruthless.

Quiet & cunning. A queen

offers her hand to be kissed,

& can form it into a fist

while smiling the whole damn time.

But what happens when those principles

only apply in a game? & in the real world,

I am not treated as a lady or a queen,

as a defender or opponent

but as a girl so many want to strike off the board.”

Still, we had trouble at times differentiating the sisters’ voices; and there were relational aspects that left us wanting - the distress of loss and the profound gift of finding; fathers and daughters and lies and love.

While it was charming and hopeful, Parked did have a flat tire, and we wish it lost a few spare parts along the way. So a round of applause for Clap When You Land, which for us, wins the draw. by Katherine Schock