RUMPUS POETRY BOOK CLUB EXCERPT: HAPPY WARRIOR by Michael Chang

An excerpt from The Rumpus Poetry Book Club‘s March selection,
SYNTHETIC JUNGLE by Michael Chang
forthcoming from Curbstone Books/Northwestern University Press on March 15, 2023

Subscribe by February 15 to the Poetry Book Club to receive this title and an invitation to an exclusive conversation with the author via Crowdcast

 

HAPPY WARRIOR

she fell off her scooter staring at me, determined as a drillbit

don’t trust anyone who doesn’t drink soda, we want lots & lots of pop

write poems in my head how other azns do math

u don’t need my help dazzling co-eds

my mouth pretty for when u come to town

so hot u cook an egg on it

so hot sunglasses come out all warped

so hot u get the chili pepper on ratemyprofessor

my mother knew better than to pretend-leave me someplace

i would’ve said ok peace i’ll let u know either way

discerning as shibboleth, daylight savings can’t buy shit

i hate that most memoirs are abt other ppl

see how they huddle, pretending to be something they’re not … beefsteak tomatoes

unpitying boy im going to love u like sweet corn congee

teach u different ways to say calves like cantaloupes

make u mushroom soup from scratch

caress u furry creature

ditch our umbrellas in a rainstorm, get soaked like last week’s dishes

dog & bone is a lazy name for a restaurant

try: the rooster, reluctant poet, & little halfwit who invented the universe

the same grave, the height of ridiculousness

ur lime jello, im fruit suspended in u

we hear the excited cries, think: he looks good out there

***

Excerpted from SYNTHETIC JUNGLE by Michael Chang. Copyright © 2022 by Northwestern University. Reprinted by permission, courtesy of Curbstone Books/Northwestern University Press.