Photo by Aditya Sethia
‘mr big ? is that supposed to be ironic ?’
put the breast back into the blouse
we managed to convince some swingers
to bet on us
here’s a cup, u should drink from it
we’re going to extract ur DNA
(the french call it ADN b/c they’re special)
send it to a lab far, far upstate, almost canada
guaranteed match: samuel delany
one of my greatest friends: the king of siam
such nice abs & not a lick of sense
they’re really on the cutting edge
of crime scene investigation
‘ming dynasty,’ she nodded
if ur in an uber & have been in an accident
tough luck
it’s been good knowing u
heartbreaker or family of five ?
bitch u needed it
u’ve joined an alien civilization
the thing abt pizzerias is they’re perfectly ordinary
shall we time-travel back to the moment u were orphaned ?
either that, or a trip to florida
don’t let me interrupt ur criminal acts
no matter where they are
mi corazón, mi hogar
u soft-launch ur tennessee diaries
du fu follows us around, wanting a kiss
irritable, yes, but what happens next ?
Michael Chang (they/them) is the author of many volumes of poetry, including SYNTHETIC JUNGLE (Northwestern University Press, 2023), TOY SOLDIERS (Action, Spectacle, 2024), and THINGS A BRIGHT BOY CAN DO (Coach House Books, 2025). Their work has appeared in such publications as AGNI, the American Poetry Review, the Harvard Review, the Iowa Review, and POETRY. They live in Manhattan.