MICHAEL CHANG

FIRST TAKE

unclench ur jaw

conventionally-attractive flagbearer for our cause

i don’t operate in a world of budgets

i didn’t mean to interrupt ur elevator pitch

tho it probably won’t come as a surprise

that i found out thru the internet

ur right, the hotshot director was extremely outta line

it certainly doesn’t help that he’s a heartthrob

& my cousin

he’s my cousin

i’m glad we had this opportunity to reconnect

she pursed her lips, shut her birkin & tightened her sphincter

we live in a society of instant gratification

delaying it is overrated & maybe even foolish

[potentially fatal ???]

i wear it like a crown

u should’ve known better

i do this, i do that

refused to copy off u in home ec

& spent my twenties paying for it

u know, ultimately, his date wasn’t the correct size

it caused quite a ruckus at the tailor’s

it was for naught since he was uninvited

when he wrote that column

calling the dictator’s wife “ a desert rose ”

mere hours after the chemical attacks

no, i don’t think what you heard was desperation

the fleet was brand spankin’ new

the elopement was announced over the college radio

listen, linus, u’ve always wanted to behead the family

so gird ur loins, there’s no time like the present

shattering ur sibling’s confidence to cross The Firm, as it were

[is there no sense of personal responsibility ???]

everything is AI these days

artifice intelligence, i think they call it

we owe it to u to be honest

物质生活 MATERIAL WORLD

my memory splinters

when i’m tired of explaining myself

throbbing like a plant

u were cucked by matthew calamari

while he was carved up in the turkish embassy

charlize theron guiding mini cooper thru tunnel

my luv is ur canary

council speaker using police lights & lip-syncing to call me maybe

u can have him

as if handing off newborn puppy

i say

i’m in pain

luv first requires anus

can i have a moment

to stop paying attention

sandwich falling in lap

no hamburger ever skid across the grill like this

when i’m sober i’m designer

when i’m drunk i’m couture

i consult the tarot

that dirty trickster

namedropping & scanning the room

the governor scrolling buzzfeed for flagged books

clothes all out of season

LEAD FEET

u have my attention:

there is no i in team

there is no u in youn

u drove four days & wore the diaper

i m asking what u think

like the moment

a fog claims the harbor

katy perry i m no longer ur muse

found in a ditch

mama iz me henri

“ the voice of the gallery ”

bitch pls that’s what we tell the grunts

so we can keep paying them 30k a year

to drive owls crazy w/ white noise machines

& make disastrous choices

at the battery park aquarium

floors clean enough to eat off of

fake catholic choke on ur vitaminwater

loser old man i m henri cole

previously a self-starting

corrupt dandy

homosexual calling to homosexual

over the abyss

between her legs a gigantic fungus

how even a brief sight of beauty

can serve as a source of renewable energy

an electric shock

downstairs so loose & ragged

ur the best at being hot

when i said i know i m not entitled since we aren’t dating

he went real quiet

not out of awkwardness

but in contemplation

an obligation to give them coke

i mean

for the good of the country