About the Feature

Listen to the author read this poem (and another one too!)

You can enter a world where you stop to turn off the stove top or you can enter a world where everyone has a cell number with different area codes because nobody lives in one place. You can enter a world of corporate executives. You can enter a world where the complications don’t end and you are waiting for a phone call. You can enter a world where the brain swells and you are told not to walk. You can enter a world of annual incomes, where you become an economist. You can enter a world where the adults follow the children and seem incapable of concentration on anything other than themselves. You can enter a world of environmental concerns. You can enter a world where food becomes daylight. You can enter a world of regional trail running competitions. You can enter a world in which you grow a beard. You can enter a world in which you break through the resolution barriers in light microscopy. You can enter a world where you make a cactus out of a cucumber by inserting toothpicks—for educational purposes. You can enter a world of your weight on other worlds. You can enter a world where you stand on your head and count breaths. You can enter a world of organic web design, textiles, and quilting. You can enter a world of toxic substances difficult to pronounce. You can enter a world of jailbreakers. You can enter a world you already inhabit. You can enter a world of World Series poker events. You can enter a world where attention interlocks with understanding and you can enter a world in which there is no understanding despite the depths of your attention. You can enter a world of data. You can enter a world in which a small cup of tears becomes the end of time. You can enter a world to win big. You can enter a world in which the ocean inhabits your blood chemistry. You can enter a world of a recycled vessel. You can enter a world where you lurk, just below the surface of things. You can enter a world of redefinition. You can enter a world with color and texture where you swim in projections of light. You can enter a world of secret agents. You can enter a world constructed only of fallacies, of confetti, of rain, of indeterminacy. You can enter a world of lucid dreaming, and then you can enter it again in the dark. You can enter a world on steroids quickly and abruptly or you can enter quietly on your fingertips, leaving an invisible trail of skin particles in your wake. You can enter a virtual world which includes bars, clubs, a movie theater, a personal yacht, and a personal penthouse that only you and friends can enter. You can enter a world on a leash or you can be propelled into a world of helicopters. You can enter a world of gourmet coffee. You can enter a world where people speak softly and kindly. You can enter a world of demons. You can enter a world in quotation marks. You can enter a world of mediated cultures. You can enter a world made of felt, obsequiously. You can enter the world’s first flying car—speed over rocks, swampland, fences, or log-infested waterways. You can enter a world like a viscous liquid, like squid ink or curtains. You can enter a world of “welcome to the dark future.” You can crawl into a world of your own making on hands and knees. You can enter a world where the world ends with you. You can enter a world asleep, dormant, a fixture. You can enter a world of warcraft, click and enter. You can enter a world of enchanting Aztec baby names. You can enter a world of the best and worst jobs in the United States. You can enter a world of beach luxury at Puro Beach in Palma de Mallorca. You can enter a world of lectionary texts, elegant earth words, viridian foliage. You can enter a world where all of these things must be re-checked before you can enter: flood, suicide prevention, devastation affiliate center, oil production, free game download, world funding collapse. You can enter this earthquake preparedness map.

About the Author

Laynie Browne is the author of nine collections of poetry and one novel. Her most recent books include Roseate, Points of Gold, The Desires of Letters, and The Scented Fox. Currently she edits for Tarpaulin Sky and Trickhouse and teaches at the University of Arizona.