I etch
And etch
And etch In the same square
Until I can see the insides
My insides
Through it
Fine repeating strokes over
And over
Side by side I transform the medium
And myself in it
Displacing aluminum powder
Until every speck squeaks away
Scraping and scraping
Drawing over the same lines to erase
No longer a canvas
Instead a window
The workings no longer a secret
Can you see?
Look inside
No more surface
Hours of pencil free drawing Look what I etched
I erased the entire thing I created something else
With a mix of authentic vulnerability, relevant truth, and humor, Andy Anderson writes poems that immediately make you want to be their friend. They are a co-organizer of Byrony Blaze’s Queer Poetry Takeover in Portland, OR.