Poetry by MICHAEL CHANG

Art by Kier Cooke Sandvik / kiercs.com

Bad at Math

sitting here in my nightgown

 

greedy ppl living between places

bartender a boy named silver

who i imagine was properly put on trial

counterculture sagging from weight of my gravitas

i was flooded wit fuck jelly

it is v sad wut has happened to the drug trade

i read that time passes for animals differently

but really thinking of me & my nailbeds

when i’m not wit u

as i understand it

inside of me extremely ripe

will even go downtown for ur wet lips

those r the ways of the weasel

not liking wut the world has become

 

a rock & a hard place

won’t stop talking abt fassbinder

the year versace was killed

as exclusive drug mule to phil collins

drinking my baby to death

by now issey miyake is also dead

u must be pressing ur cock into soft tits

as i recall it

i feel as if i have ruined my life

i wanna smuggle u into me

i wanna party in ur red eyes

young & in luv

this is the way i remember


Campaign Postcards

Being from Appalachia ,

Growing up on a donkey farm ,

A forgotten part of the country , 

where I’m from ,

President Lincoln said ,

I never thought I could live openly ,

When I was diagnosed with ,

The man of my dreams ,

As an educator , 

mom , 

kick-ass chef ,

In a household of 18 kids ,

I graduated with a 2.0 GPA & facial blindness ,

As your District Attorney & the highest-ranking law enforcement official ,

Never in my wildest ,

When my son was born ,

Single & lacking a motherly instinct ,

The doubters said ,

I believe America’s future is ahead of it ,

We can ,

We must ,



Trial Notes

boy running hand thru hair                the handsomest                slipping past

a miner’s lungs                punched thru a window                feeling great

i too have done things for my luxury watch collection                born sad             may not even finish

i don’t have any excuses                skedaddle outta here                señor fluffy

john’s ashbery                pushing deftly thru me                blue lights discouraging jumpers

soft necks broken in low vases                destroying rotary phone                debunking race science

dream journal of nixon                tarot deck of virgin                imogen heap playing

mouth


MICHAEL CHANG (they/them) is the author of several collections of poetry, including Boyfriend Perspective (Really Serious Literature, 2021), Almanac of Useless Talents (CLASH Books, 2022), and Synthetic Jungle (Northwestern University Press, 2023). Tapped to edit Lambda Literary’s Emerge anthology, their poems have been nominated for Best New Poets, The Best of the Net, and the Pushcart Prize. They were awarded The Poetry Project’s prestigious Brannan Prize in 2021 and serve as a poetry editor at the acclaimed journal Fence.