Bad at Math
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
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.
