let’s say for a moment u remember to be critical.
u assess where u are, this fabricated terrain designed to host a game that’s carnal.
the first time u plugged in, ur code coagulated almost organically like a blood clot, but here instead, u were a cluster of warping focuses from a phone camera’s lens. were u watching as the terrain took shape around u, the ground as it seemed to unfurl endlessly into fantasy expanse, omnidirectional in its passing thru.
did u consider ur relationship to this action a contract.
did u find urself betrayed by the awe.
Bio
Caelan Ernest is a nonbinary poet, writer, and performer. Most recently, their work has been published in them., Blush Lit, Channel Void, WUSSY, Hayden’s Ferry Review, baest: a journal of queer forms & affects, We Want It All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics, and elsewhere. They hold an MFA in Writing from Pratt Institute, and are a Publicist at Graywolf Press. They live with their cat named Salad in Brooklyn. Their book ICONOCLAST is also forthcoming from Everybody Press in 2024. This excerpt is from their upcoming book 'night mode'.