On ”What You Allow, Lingers” by Annette Hope Billings
By Huascar Medina
Hello friends, I’m Huascar Medina, Former Poet Laureate of Kansas, here for Poets on the Plains. I hope you are well and finding laughter. I’m excited to share more wonderful poetry from Kansas poets. Today, I will be sharing the poem “What You Allow, Lingers” by Annette Hope Billings.
Annette Hope Billings is a multiple award‑winning poet, actor, and storyteller from Topeka. She received a Governor’s Arts Award for Excellence in Artistic Achievement in Literature in 2026. In 2025, she received the ArtsConnect ARTY Award in Literature. Dubbed “the Maya of the Midwest,” she is the author of four poetry collections, most recently Just Shy of Stars. For more than 12 years, she has co‑hosted the Speak Easy Open Mic Night, a key platform for emerging writers in Topeka.
“What You Allow, Lingers”
What you allow lingers and what you invite stays put
so speak rudely to discord and its sullen sisters
turn a cold shoulder to prejudice in all its disguises
ignore the doorbell when envy arrives
and stop sorrow at the door like a stranger
usher in joy like a long lost friend take its coat its hat
entertain peace chat up passion pamper generosity
give justice the guest room and make your life
poorly suited for anything but goodness
sweep the porch and place a welcome mat out for love
and when hate knocks act like you’ve moved
Used with Permission
There is so much care imbued in this poem for the reader. It reads like a short manual for intentional living or like a page out of a “Good Living” magazine.
The poem opens with a beautiful aphorism: “What you allow lingers and what you invite stays put/”. Aphorisms are short, clever statements that express general truths, moral lessons, or a wise observation. They are characterized by their brevity, philosophical and emotional depth.
The truth shared in this first line is you, the reader, have a choice to process emotion
and sit in emotion. The word “invite” is the crux of the poem. The extended metaphor of the body, heart, and spirit as a home inviting guests inside opens up for us like a screened door on the porch of our sentiments.
We are told to “speak rudely to discord and its sullen sisters.” What a novel concept to unwelcome the rude and sullen at your door in the land of Midwest Nice. It is a boundary defining act. A way to protect your peace, your space and place in a tempestuous world.
We are also advised to not let in “prejudice in all its disguises” or envy, or sorrow.
The second section of the poem is a guest list of emotions. Those we want to invite into ourselves. We are to “usher in joy,” “entertain peace,” “chat up passion,” “pamper generosity", and most importantly we are given explicit directions for “justice.” We are told to, “ give justice the guest room and make your life poorly suited for anything but goodness” . I like the idea of preparing my home for the arrival of goodness and treating justice like a close family member coming home. Lately, for me, it feels like justice is traveling farther away from us.
The final portion of the poem is the most direct. We should all leave “a welcome mat out for love,” anticipate love's arrival. I hope we are making space for love, choosing love above all. The closing line is reticent and provides us with a plan of action when encountering the antithesis of love. It does not expect us to spend too much time or energy, it kindly suggests and simply states: “when hate knocks, act like you’ve moved.”
Thank you for listening.
This is Poets on the Plains. I’m Huascar Medina, living artfully in Topeka, Kansas. I hope love walks into your home today.
POETS ON THE PLAINS HOST
Huascar Medina, a poet, editor, essayist, and artist advocate. He served as the poet laureate of Kansas from 2019 to 2022 and was named an Academy of American Huascar Medina Poets Laureate Fellow in 2022. Medina is currently a senior editor at South Broadway Press and a contributing op-ed writer at the Kansas Reflector. Medina is the author of How to Hang the Moon (Spartan Press), Un Mango Grows in Kansas (Spartan Press), Protest as Love Poem (Meadowlark Press), and the forthcoming Prairie Fool (Plainspoken Books, 2027), a collection of lyrical essays addressing politics, class, and culture. His work has been published in the Flint Hills Review, Gasconade Review, Green Mountains Review, Kansas Magazine, Latino Book Review, and The New York Times, among other places.https://huascarmedina.com/
FEATURED POET
Annette Hope Billings is a multiple award‑winning poet, actor, and storyteller from Topeka. She received a Governor’s Arts Award for Excellence in Artistic Achievement in Literature in 2026. In 2025, she received the ArtsConnect ARTY Award in Literature. Dubbed “the Maya of the Midwest,” she is the author of four poetry collections, most recently Just Shy of Stars. For more than 12 years, she has co‑hosted the Speak Easy Open Mic Night, a key platform for emerging writers in Topeka.
