Michael Chang
帶走你的垃圾 TAKE OUT YOUR TRASH
After this year, as assured as ONJ is Australian,
I’ll never look at certain words the same way again:
“Q” . . . “Corona” . . . “Blake” . . .
I avert my gaze in the face of uncommon beauty
Simon says love me just a little while
Sometimes I want you next to me, but not in a sexual way
You’re the church with the most loyal followers
so fiendishly devoted God takes a drag
asks how’d you manage that?
I tape a photo of Anna Wintour to my fridge so I eat less
I want your shiny armor . . . your thigh gap
your made-for-TV backstory . . . 8/7 Central
You suck eggs & sketch nudes
been alone so long your heart has bedsores
Fill me up like FAFSA, bear me much fruit
Gimme a tongue bath & thank me for it
Apart from me you do nothing
R u sure
No ur straight
Really
I love it when you don’t make sense
The last time I had arugula on a pizza
you were still alive
A Lambda Literary fellow, Michael Chang (they/them) was awarded the Kundiman Scholarship at the Miami Writers Institute. A finalist in contests at the Iowa Review, BOMB, NightBlock, & many others, their poems have been nominated for Best of the Net & the Pushcart Prize. They are the author of two chapbooks (one of which won the Bateau Press BOOM Chapbook Contest) & their full-length collection is forthcoming from Really Serious Literature. Other projects will soon be announced.