It’s not an exaggeration to say I’m still a little beside myself to see my name and poem in an issue of the Kenyon Review, which has long been a “bucket list” journal for me. The new issue just dropped, and I’m so happy to have a poem, “Customer Loyalty Program,” appear alongside Eloisa Amezcua, Tiana Clark (check out an excerpt from her long and brilliant (epic is a loaded word when it comes to poetry, but it definitely feels pretty epic) poem here), Bob Hicok, and others, including Jenny Li, whose poem was a runner up for the 2018 Patricia Geoff Poetry Prize for Young Writers and is innovative and cool as hell. Thanks a million to David Baker and the generous KR staff for having me.
The poem is in issue Volume XL Number 6, which you can order here!
Brandon Amico 
This is a great read that I find very relevant, especially coming up to the holiday season. Brandon, what were some of your inspirations for this poem?
Thanks, Tyler! Hard to pin it to one particular inspiration; more like this is a transcription of the constant money- and consumer-focused anxiety that runs through my head and permeates every aspect of our lives. It feels inescapable, equal parts entrancing and insidious.