CONFESSIONAL

Michael Chang

 

this poem’s abt me. dead serious. loads of them are: no no zone, almanac of useless talents, fine w/o u, california one night stand, 500 horses outside at the valet, white ford bronco, awful ghosts, carnal flower, rasputin, my forever person, working stiff, sad boy public relations, garden state trick, bleu de chanel, white tennis shoes, suede kisses, internet boyfriend, simpatico, student-athlete’s college recruitment guide, leg of lamb, gin & milk, duck duck goose, still life w/ sunglasses at nite . . . it would be easier to list the poems of theirs i’m not in. they’ve been writing abt me for 12 years. i was one of their earliest students, way back when i was 19. totally fell in love w/ them & let them know it, although i was scared, before having to go home to texas & check into rehab. the whole ordeal left me spinning my wheels, afraid even to go to str8 spaces like home depot. found out a few years ago they’d written a number of love poems abt me. called me catullus, something abt my breath, described my bedroom as having the atmosphere of an operating theater. tried my best to contact them, but they wouldn’t say a word to me. performed my favorite exorcism & purchased shoes for dog. didn’t pay for my chipotle. abandoned tourists on the pier, most definitely high. still they kept writing these damn poems, claiming i’m terrified of intimacy.  no, i’m a very intimate guy, have left a lot of bodies behind.  hey, my eyes are up here.  i get it, there’s only so much waiting around u can do.  i want a family, not a fantasy.  very much falling out of love w/ them.  abt damn time.  their stock is sinking fast.

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Person of Interest + Sad Boy Public Relations

Person of Interest

山旮旯 or san ka la—a cantonese phrase meaning a place in the middle of nowhere

that’s where we met

千里眼 & 顺风耳 are two folkloric figures in china—together they’re unstoppable

顺风耳 can hear the subtlest of sounds, carried over great distances by the wind

i’ll be discreet, the coast is clear

千里眼 can see over great distances, span thousands of 里

confuse oresteia with osteria, smooth me over royal jelly

a 里 is a unit of measurement also found in korea & japan

conquer me royal navy, come here my possibility tuna

a metaphor for an impossible distance is 十万八千里 (108000里)

state college is an hour & a half from harrisburg. that’s the distance i would go for you. you drove 5

hours to see your ex

in mandarin, li (里) sounds like li you (理由)—or reason

a commie obsessed with me, commie eye candy, who wudda thought

给我一个理由忘记

hey, low sperm count

kiss me open mouth, swift like taylor

the critics have spoken: i’d rather be alone than settle for the bare minimum

rejecting you seems like the easiest thing in the world (you want to be discarded)

you play too much but seduction is a game for two

i hope one day , we are merit ,

young buck , home skillet ,

 

 

Sad Boy Public Relations

1. CONSISTENCY

 

u type immaculate to me—do u hate me

 

2. NONCHALANCE

 

untangle urself for a moment & cheer me up

 

3. CHARM

 

ur prodigious

a savant

ur gf’s so dumb she thinks contemporary music means the beatles

 

4. DRINKING

 

u obfuscate

cling onto flimsy girl

 

5. EFFORTLESSNESS

 

i kiss two fingers pinched together

pretend it is u

 

6. ATHLETICISM

 

the closest u got to sports was athlete’s foot

i feel u hard as pear

 

7. DISCIPLINE

 

hold me down

tell me u don’t like boy

 

8. PUBLIC SPIRITEDNESS

 

seel me like a hawk

i can be tame if u give me what i want

 

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