Anh Nguyen

Who do you love?

the river asked the fawn

cutting away 

her spoiled edges,

the claret

of her skin.

Do you love

the bite of winter,

snap, to a cricket's call

his pensive gapes,
from hollowed water

baiting flaxen fronds’ fall

Or do you love

the passer-by,

that shoots the doe with

arrowheads, cutting 

the crisp silence

of nightfall, giving

her only present; 

a cry.

Anh wants to work in a bookstore that has cats. She likes insects, fountain pens, Rachmaninoff, and films where people talk too much.