by Brendan Allen
love is born of thing-ness &
I choose to love the bedded dirt,
the edible earth beneath the stove-
range. I love the sprouted-new tufts
of mold as they muddy the grout. I love
the ant-ball’s tributaries, flirting
the lost taffy. the more I choose more love,
the more things sing their thing-ing song.
here, listen: each damp ring on the tabletop
begs you to join me, to raise your feet & assert
this place I’ve saved for you.
on the couch, run your fingers along
our blanket’s underbelly & brush me. now, let’s
call up some friends. it’s a sectional, after all
it’s tectonic. but it’s also just cushion. all these borders:
just cushion. it’s our house & the throngs
at the door don’t have to listen to us if they
want a piece of it. I choose to love these walls
because I’ve saved this space for you. now you
can stretch out on the carpet, count our love, sing something new.
Brendan Allen lives in Philadelphia, where he pursues a poetry MFA and teaches undergraduate writing at Temple University. He’s currently working on a text-based, choose-your-own-adventure, poem-generating video game. You can play a demo at https://bibliomancer.itch.io/centoquest.