Brittney Corrigan

EVERYTHING

Buh Buh Buh
     means everything
the dog scratching at the door for dinner
    and you small, your sight grows longer
        longer with each day
    your fingers learn to hold on to everything
    everything has a taste
the dog scratching at the door for dinner
    you want to be there when he is fed
             feel his fur
             in your fingers
             learn to hold on to everything
when the woman who carries you
    steps out to feed the dog
the dog scratching at the door for dinner
    you say Buh Buh Buh
             mean everything
             want to be outside with the dog
             with the red hair of the woman
             with the dog eating his dinner
             everything has a taste
you say Buh Buh Buh
    three teeth coming in, your teeth come in
             more with each day
    your fingers learn to hold on to everything
you say Buh Buh Buh
    and mean the dog, mean where you want to be
outside the door
the woman with the red hair who carries you
holds everything

Brittney Corrigan's poems have appeared in The Texas Observer, Hayden's Ferry Review, Borderlands, The Blue Mesa Review, Oregon Review, Manzanita Quarterly, Stringtown, and Many Mountains Moving, among others. She is the poetry editor for the online literary journal Hyperlexia and lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two children. To read more of Brittney’s work, visit her website at brittneycorrigan.com.