On Margaret Sends Her Ultrasound to the Girls-Only Group Chat and I am Not Ready Yet by Gina Tranisi
by Jewell Rodgers
My name is Jewell Rodgers and I am the State Poet of Nebraska and this week we are bringing Gina Tranisi to the stage.
Gina is a poet, educator, and lifelong Nebraskan. She is a grants manager with Fox Creek Fundraising and is proud to help nonprofits grow their financial capacity and do more good in the community. Before this, she served as co-executive director of the Nebraska Writers Collective, establishing the Nebraska Youth Poet Laureate program and facilitating programs that brought writing workshops to thousands of teens, adults, and incarcerated creatives. Her manuscript has appeared on the YesYes Books longlist, and her poems have appeared in Rattle, The Rumpus, and other journals. She holds a B.A. and M.A. in English and a specialization in Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. When she’s between drafts, Gina’s cat (Macaroni) keeps her keyboard warm.
This is her poem Margaret Sends Her Ultrasound to the Girls-Only Group Chat and I am Not Ready Yet
Margaret Sends Her Ultrasound to the Girls-Only Group Chat and I am Not Ready Yet
I want to say she was my love first:
my hair-dye-stained hands in her kitchen,
my bacon grease hangover, holder of teenage
worries, crooked as my teeth. She pinned
celebrity crushes inside my freshman locker,
planned sophomore surprise parties, had a
sister and a sister and a sister old enough
to slip bottles of white wine into her
bottom dresser drawer at eighteen.
Instead, I smile like
I’m supposed to when she tells us
about the period, skipped like a red
stone across the placid lake of her
belly, I echo her delight like a Grand
Canyon message – a baby a baby a
baby! – when she tells us about Poppy,
or whatever kind of flower an embryo
becomes. I bite into
a bagel 1,200 miles and one time
zone away from Margaret, who is
never alone now. I pick up the phone
to say something soft, but I am all
selfish edges. I want to sit around
a campfire in mid-coast Maine, to
freeze time, to keep window
shopping these lives just a few
hours more. I am young. I want
to make believe.
Used with permission.
I love how she starts this poem. Immediately, you understanding that it feels like something or someone rather, has been taken from. It feels almost childish. You know like, how when we were kids, at least once we said, “hey, that was mine first!” And so funny, that a child and a young woman no longer a child, would generate this response.
But I love it. This poem captures the complicated tug between intimacy, loss and time. It begins with a claim. “I want to say she was my love first. ”The imagery ground us in memories, stained hands, greasy hangovers, lockers plastered with celebrity crushes. These details remind us of the small, ordinary rituals that stitch friendship together.
But as the poem shifts, the speaker must pretend happiness for a friend whose life is moving forward into pregnancy and partnership-- very big things. The echo of, “a baby, a baby, a baby” rings out like a real celebration, but in reality is a bit hollow, a bit distant.
Then by the end, what we feel is exactly that – distance. Miles. Time zones. The ache of being left behind while still holding onto. The final line, “I want to make believe” brings it full circle, back to the innocence of childhood and the struggle of growing up when you’re not quite ready to let go.
In this poem, there’s a sense of responsibility - she knows she should do better, be happy, smile - and while doing that, she struggles with the reality of what this means for her forthcoming loosened grip. Even working in distance toward the end of the poems, mirroring the distance in the relationship that she is dreading. But we all know loss. We all love and wanting a person to be there. If you could see this poem, you could see its beautiful syntax. It’s line breaks. You could sit with the memories of surprise parties and celebrity crushes in lockers a little longer.
That’s Gina Tranisi, everyone. Her ability to carry you through a story, one that can induce laughter and tears sometimes in a single line is impeccable.
She has also done so much work across Omaha and across Nebraska in general. She has been integral in keeping Nebraska Writers Collective strong and vital – as well as the many organizations that she continues to contribute to.
So, if you ever have a chance to hear, see, or read Gina Tranisi, I would highly, highly recommend it. You can find more on ginatranisi.com or on her LinkedIn. Or because this is radio, I will go ahead and spell her name for you so that you have it: Gina Tranisi.
Talk soon.
POETS ON THE PLAINS HOST
Jewel Rodgers is the 2025–2029 Nebraska State Poet, a 2025 Academy of American Poets Fellowship recipient, and a 2025 AIRIES Fellow. A three-time Omaha Entertainment and Arts Award nominee for Best Performance Poet and a three-time TEDx speaker, she is a nationally touring interdisciplinary performer and spatial practitioner. Jewel merges art, storytelling, and placemaking to inspire and connect audiences across the U.S. and beyond. https://www.jewelrodgers.com/ (Bloom)
FEATURED POET
Gina Tranisi is a poet, educator, and lifelong Nebraskan. She is a grants manager with Fox Creek Fundraising and is proud to help nonprofits grow their financial capacity and do more good in the community. Before this, she served as co-executive director of the Nebraska Writers Collective, establishing the Nebraska Youth Poet Laureate program and facilitating programs that brought writing workshops to thousands of teens, adults, and incarcerated creatives. Her manuscript has appeared on the YesYes Books longlist, and her poems have appeared in Rattle, The Rumpus, and other journals. She holds a B.A. and M.A. in English and a specialization in Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. When she’s between drafts, Gina’s cat (Macaroni) keeps her keyboard warm. https://www.ginatranisi.com/
