at the neon retro arcade in old town
Matthew Toth
Matthew Toth is a writer and editor from Pasadena, California. An English major at Kenyon College, Matthew has been a Kenyon Review associate for the past two years. His work primarily explores themes of queerness—shame and joy and where they intersect. You can find his writing at Vagabond City Lit and contact him at @matthewtoth_ on Instagram.
we are opposite sides
of the same godzilla-
themed pinball machine
nothing separating us
but metal & memory
how desire pings
from one limb to the next
our own stupid fingers
triggering the spring
by hand i traced
every vein on your
body & when you made
a feast of the season by
hand then part of me
did want to say grace
not to venerate
lazy storytelling
but the world for lashing
us gratuitously
whole mouthfuls of
mount wilson unspooled
tonight hands held in
the neon room
marble rolling at last
into darkness
past tenderness
who named this beast
who fed it our flesh
in rusted quarters
for nothing but a song
which is another form
of the prodigal
question of course
what tremendous
cheat was there
to stop all that
yowling despair