In third grade, my best-friend
was the school librarian.         She told me
so. When I moved in 7^th grade,
I wrote her a letter and made
another friend. We got in trouble
together.          He taught me skinny
dipping.           In college, my fraternity
had a scroll of friends’ names
each year. At my new job
coworkers love
                                      working with me. My siblings
                           call after Dad does
                           when I get another graduate degree.
              I walk to the local library and learn
you don’t have to enroll.

Aly Allen is a trans poet. Her writing focuses on family, trauma, and identity. Her first full-length collection, Paying for Gas with Quarters, debuts this October from Middle West Press. Recent publications appear in Two Hawks Quarterly, new words (press), and Consequence. She holds an MFA creative writing from Oklahoma State University, where she now teaches composition. Find her on Instagram and Threads @notasquirrel