{"id":1973,"date":"2023-01-28T12:46:41","date_gmt":"2023-01-28T18:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thespectaclstg.wpengine.com\/?p=1973"},"modified":"2023-02-08T10:20:32","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T16:20:32","slug":"poetry-by-michael-chang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/?p=1973","title":{"rendered":"Poetry by MICHAEL CHANG"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Bad at Math<\/h4>\n
sitting here in my nightgown\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

greedy ppl living between places<\/p>\n

bartender a boy named silver<\/p>\n

who i imagine was properly put on trial<\/p>\n

counterculture sagging from weight of my gravitas<\/p>\n

i was flooded wit fuck jelly<\/p>\n

it is v sad wut has happened to the drug trade<\/p>\n

i read that time passes for animals differently<\/p>\n

but really thinking of me & my nailbeds<\/p>\n

when i\u2019m not wit u<\/p>\n

as i understand it<\/p>\n

inside of me extremely ripe<\/p>\n

will even go downtown for ur wet lips<\/p>\n

those r the ways of the weasel<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

not liking wut the world has become\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

a rock & a hard place<\/p>\n

won\u2019t stop talking abt fassbinder<\/p>\n

the year versace was killed<\/p>\n

as exclusive drug mule to phil collins<\/p>\n

drinking my baby to death<\/p>\n

by now issey miyake is also dead<\/p>\n

u must be pressing ur cock into soft tits<\/p>\n

as i recall it<\/p>\n

i feel as if i have ruined my life<\/p>\n

i wanna smuggle u into me<\/p>\n

i wanna party in ur red eyes<\/p>\n

young & in luv<\/p>\n

this is the way i remember<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Campaign Postcards<\/h4>\n
Being from Appalachia ,\n\nGrowing up on a donkey farm ,\n\nA forgotten part of the country , \n\nwhere I\u2019m from ,\n\nPresident Lincoln said ,\n\nI never thought I could live openly ,\n\nWhen I was diagnosed with ,\n\nThe man of my dreams ,\n\nAs an educator , \n\nmom , \n\nkick-ass chef ,\n\nIn a household of 18 kids ,\n\nI graduated with a 2.0 GPA & facial blindness ,\n\nAs your District Attorney & the highest-ranking law enforcement official ,\n\nNever in my wildest ,\n\nWhen my son was born ,\n\nSingle & lacking a motherly instinct ,\n\nThe doubters said ,\n\nI believe America\u2019s future is ahead of it ,\n\nWe can ,\n\nWe must ,\n\n\f\n<\/pre>\n
\n
Trial Notes<\/h4>\n
boy running hand thru hair \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0the handsomest \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0slipping past\n\na miner\u2019s lungs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 punched thru a window \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0feeling great\n\ni too have done things for my luxury watch collection \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0born sad \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0may not even finish\n\ni don\u2019t have any excuses \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0skedaddle outta here \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0se\u00f1or fluffy\n\njohn\u2019s ashbery\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 pushing deftly thru me \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0blue lights discouraging jumpers\n\nsoft necks broken in low vases \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0destroying rotary phone \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0debunking race science\n\ndream journal of nixon \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0tarot deck of virgin \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0imogen heap playing\n\nmouth\n<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MICHAEL CHANG (they\/them) is the author of several collections of poetry, including Boyfriend Perspective <\/em>(Really Serious Literature, 2021), Almanac of Useless Talents<\/em> (CLASH Books, 2022), and Synthetic Jungle<\/em> (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, <\/em>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<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bad at Math | Campaign Postcards | Trial Notes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1965,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[85],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1973"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}