Here I am, shirtless, riding your bones
like an evening nude, my buttocks eating your spine
like a swan reverse-engineered for a new concept, for
a new character—Ithaca-hot and bracing—praying to spring
from the sea-bushes, bogarting le chic papyrus pages of Homer. I am
the anti-brace, love; smile. I do not wish for what I want. I work
on 2,000 drawings at once. The layup. Surely that’s the future, you
think? Authoring infinite frames per second? Freedom is nothing
but money become bones. Skeletons aren’t difficult, are beautiful
where they belong, hemmed up for observation like a Calla
in a tented circus. Nope comes to mind. Nah, I don’t mind
your gait; slow suits me, actually; gait on, gait on. Heel. I am
nobody you want to play with. I cowboy among the best:
Baller of the bullist. Earl of the flesh. de Cana.
Linette Marie Allen, winner of the 2021 Kay Murphy Prize for Poetry, holds an MFA from the University of Baltimore. Her poetry has been published in notable journals such as Boulevard, Gulf Coast, and Prairie Schooner. A two-time nominee for the Best of the Net Awards, Allen’s work has been set to music by Peabody composers. She is the author of Breakfast With Sappho (2024). Born and raised in Washington, DC, Allen’s writing often explores themes of identity, memory, and the interplay between the personal and the cosmic, characterized by vivid imagery and layered emotions.
Photo by Maru Lombardo on Unsplash