Inventory
All the Things I Love:
Morning sex. Vegan nachos. Melissa Etheridge.
Buddha. Band tees. Hash browns.
Puppies. Joni Mitchell. Soft hair.
Joy Harjo. Blue jeans. Vegan ice cream.
Jesus. Bob Dylan. Whales.
Alanis Morrissette. Fresh kiwi. Athletic shorts.
Penguins. Will & Grace. Dimples.
Gwen Hart. Denim jackets with patches. French fries.
My mother. Andrea Gibson. The ocean.
Mashed potatoes. Back of hands. Thich Nhat Hanh.
Mandarin oranges. Warm sand on my toes. The sunrise.
Kayaking. The Used. The Golden Girls.
Lips. Yoga. A ripe peach.
A good laugh. Walking outdoors. Saeed Jones.
HIM. Christmas morning. My sister.
The Dalai Lama. My grandmother. Potato chips.
Tree pose. Tall trees. Road trips.
My Chemical Romance. Sister Helen Prejean. Silence.
A good cry. Sweet chili Doritos. My sophomore English teacher.
Peace signs. Christmas music. Chipotle.
But not you. Not you. Not you.
All the Things I Pretend Not to Love:
You.
Charles K. Carter (he/him) is a queer poet and educator from Iowa who currently lives in Oregon. He shares his home with his artist husband and his spoiled pets. He enjoys film, yoga, and live music. Melissa Etheridge is his ultimate obsession. He holds an MFA in writing from Lindenwood University. His poems have appeared in several literary journals. Carter is the author of Read My Lips (David Robert Books) as well as several chapbooks.
