Everythinglike it’s always beenSame morning fartssamesweaty ballspressed againstmy sheetsMy same openmouthdrooled-onpillowcasedandruffAnd the sunlightreachingfrom outsideunderdrawn shadesinto warmhumidinterior dimnessEverythingwill be the sametodayas it always wasbefore youbut better somehowFor oneI get to wake upto someone else’ssweaty ballsand open mouthand hairy chestright beside mein my bedAnd somehowI have no objectionsno qualmswith youAdditional PersonI want youhere, takespace from meand improve itwith your shouldersyour thoughtson horror movieson pop singersyour shoes leftat the doorwith minePush mine asideMake roomYou fitas ifyou’ve alwaysbeen herenewunusualeverythinglike it always is
Always
Justin Allen
Feature Date
- January 5, 2025
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“Always” from LANGUAGE ARTS: by Justin Allen.
Published by Wendy’s Subway in September 2024.
Copyright © 2024 by Justin Allen.
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission.
Photo:
S*an D. Henry-Smith
S*an D. Henry-Smith
Justin Allen works in music and sound, performance, visual art, and writing. He has been commissioned by The Chocolate Factory Theater, The Shed, and ISSUE Project Room and received support from Franklin Furnace, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and the Jerome Foundation. He received his BA in literary studies from Eugene Lang College at The New School and his MFA in sculpture from Yale School of Art. In 2022 he released a four-song EP with his punk band Black Boots. In 2024, he released his first book, Language Arts, published by Wendy’s Subway.
Justin Allen’s Language Arts takes up writing as an integral part of an interdisciplinary art practice. Across poems, essays, lyrics, screenwriting, and drawings, works touch on themes of music and subculture, African diasporic language, visual art, and more, bringing together Allen's numerous influences into one collection.
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