—NY Times headline (so you know it’s true)

By Carol Lynne Knight

I love pizza 
and dancing polar bears waving flags
and penguins waddling on the beach. 
a whale’s flash of grace as his tail
disappears beneath the waves
I love opals instead of diamonds 
and the scent of gardenias, but not in the house.
of course, chocolate but really really, licorice is my darling,
and dairy queen vanilla cones, unembellished.
and blond-ish lovers who speak in couplets,
and in my lap, a purring cat,
I love the silent odorless digital drip 
of color when I paint with pixels
and I love you with all your imperfections
opening my door 
so wide.
~~~

Carol Lynne Knight is the co-director of Anhinga Press, where she designs and edits books. She is the author of If I Go Missing (2022), A Fretted Terrain, Like Mars (2020) and Quantum Entanglement, 2010). Her poetry has appeared in Another Chicago Magazine, Louisiana Literature, Tar River Review, Poetry Motel, Earth’s Daughters, The Ledge, Slipstream, Broome Review, Comstock Review, Northwest Florida Review, Epicenter, Redactions, Iconoclast, Epicenter, HazMat, So to Speak, J, and others. Born in Traverse City, Michigan, she grew up in South Florida and graduated from the University of Miami and Florida State University. In other lives, she worked as an art teacher, potter, videographer, copy writer, and graphic designer. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida.