Deathbed Bingo | Jane Lunin Perel

Read by Rowan Locascio-McLaughlin

What is The Alembic?

We’re thrilled to introduce you to a brand-new chapter in The Alembic’s history. For the first time ever, we’re offering an audio edition of the journal—an exciting new endeavor for 2025. In this edition, you’ll hear every written piece read aloud by Providence College students, bringing a new dimension and life to the written word.

Her body is weighted with stones.
Her calves are invaded by tourniquets of blue eels.
I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine, she whispers into
the Bomb Cyclone. When the power is snapped off, it is only the Bingo Caller pausing
before They read the Winning Number. She’s been waiting since the number was reversed:
born premature, she was hauled off into an incubator. Her mother feared she would go blind,
as other neighbors’ babies did from too much oxygen. She didn’t. If it’s not her night,
she’ll give more to Guide Dogs for the Blind. Her cough arises like a snake slithering
from a bog. Will she hear the Bingo Caller with roof tiles and chimneys
splaying in the wind? Will the numbers flash in the sky?
As long as she stays in her bed,
there’s still a chance
it’s Bingo…