Explodingly Yours by Chen Chen

MY BOYFRIEND & I HAVE A CRUSH
on a guy who’s great
at being shirtless & sometimes pantsless
online, who has a large
pet bird, a cockatiel
I think, in which case yes, “cock”
is in the name, but it’s a very
pet bird-looking bird,
who started out as a recurring
guest star on his bare shoulder, & then
was promoted, just recently, to series
regular, to every last tanned
moment, to my vexed
sigh & my boyfriend’s Oh that fucking
bird again—& then, well, the lovely
dearth of clothing largely evens things out
for me, though not for my boyfriend,
who has developed an anti-crush
on the cockatiel that’s spilling
over onto the cocky owner,
but still there was last Wednesday,
last Wednesday 4 p.m.
when he posted one thoroughly
glorious pic—shirtless, pantsless,
& birdless—& immediately I texted it
to my boyfriend, Have you seen
this yet, & he texted back, Mm
I have now, & in that Mm,
that moment, we were once again
drooling, dreaming
together, & didn’t Hemingway
say all you have to do
is write one true sentence,
the truest?