A Poem by Mike Lala

by Mark Bibbins, Editor

from Portraits of the Artists as Their Own Subjects

The screen lit up it was old

she took to foam
the stitching / cloth and it was without form

patches clay Ground Theme
Koji Kondo, 1982 / PVC green paint and astroturf

and darkness on the face

of the Kingdom

and her hand over the cellophane water
her hand over the plush fungi
and her hand over the void
over the Pakkun flower with piranha teeth bared

and behold,

Mike Lala has published two chapbooks: Under the Westward Night (Knickerbocker Circus, 2010) and [fire!] ([sic] Press, 2011). His work is forthcoming/in Fence; The Brooklyn Rail; Diagram; Rhino; La Petite Zine; No, Dear; and others. He curates Fireside Follies and works with Recession Art in New York. More at MikeLala.com.

Do you know what you can do on the subway? Yes, be stabbed, but before that, read our vast archive of poetry. You may contact the editor at [email protected].