Michael Chang Surreal-Absurd Sampler

“The surreal and the absurd are absolutely necessary.  I didn't begin writing because I wanted to be "a poet" -- I was irritated by bad lit and thought I could do a better job.  My work reflects my own thoughts and impressions about what makes people tick.  Turns out I find comfort in the strange, in the "not knowing."“—Michael Chang

DANGEROUS

w/ all due respect:
one shake of the banana
& the boy in leather
is in my hallway
slightly rotten
the banana, not the hallway

DRONE OPTING OUT OF HIVE

Eggshell skull refers to a legal doctrine which holds that a defendant’s liability in a tort claim is not mitigated by a plaintiff’s unforeseeable, pre-existing susceptibility to injury . . .

●

“ dear eggshell plaintiff ,
i am so very sorry for the anger
i have caused
by my clumsy words , ”
began the poet
“ i still got it
u still got it bad
howz ur hovel
ur hidey-hole
why look so anguished
utilize ur trotters to see !!!
i didn’t know u were assistant GM ,
ur so humble
u could be playing basketball
in europe !!!
let me haunt u
w/ details of spurious curiousness ,
a cheap date ,
hope i didn’t waste
a wish on u ”

STRAIGHT TO THE POINT

chix sandwich in hand
u say
let me get away
from this movie-talking
snack-munching
shit leaving gifts
on my stoop
ron padgett’s bollocks
slinking away in the dark
como un juguete

MY DEAR FRIEND

pressing the end of his flute
into ur creepy clam
the krabby at his cousin’s wedding
takes a sip
something like second base, certainly
the hudson river floaters
form a blond republic
their reverse psychology
working on gary hart
as he continues to stare at goats in a dark room
w/ no one sorrier than me
signing onto this letter
imagine how it feels:
the opposite of horses kicking

OPEN SESAME

love is everything it’s said to be
pure as poison
i sat w/ prostitutes & lepers & u
a century’s worth of grime
on this old master
in jabba’s fantasy
leia as humiliated slave
they killed the clam bake
have rice for breakfast b/c they r azn
in erykah’s formulation
they either want to be u
or have sex w/ u
somehow u satisfy both
i feel the words starting to move
“ i’m a trained intimacy coach ”
his disguise a movie
i accidentally saw twice
pardon my hungry eyes
open for u like a toaster
i think i’m all right

POEM, DESCRIPTIVE OF RURAL LIFE & SCENERY (INCOMPLETE)

 . . . has anyone ever broken down a door & found happiness on the other side throat magic & recouped time spent waiting for one goldberg or another reeking of cheap aftershave some YMCA brand the vendor unlicensed the first gentleman entering a swamp in search of his mate it was majestic it was maddening it was a pleasant evening at the london drugs the horse carcasses not too far away the beefcake in the pale shorts of a material so sheer as to be translucent two perfect globes of peach peeking thru before he sidesteps & reveals nay puts into view an equally blond colossus they might as well be twins skin bounce so sexy splendid honest jets of sperm sliding down thighs messy cackle driving dogs insane huge sections of town condemned landing gears engaged & our black hearts spared he did not apologize for he had the great fortune of being born w/ one temperamental as whiskey sky raining, well, carnivorous fish . . .

MICHAEL CHANG (they/them) is the author of SYNTHETIC JUNGLE (Northwestern University Press, 2023), TOY SOLDIERS (Action, Spectacle, 2024) & THE HEARTBREAK ALBUM (Coach House Books, 2025). They edit poetry at Fence.