Poetry: Mark Young

Mark Young

from 100 Titles From Tom Beckett

 

#21: Buyer's Remorse Code

Everything was fine for the

first few months. Buyer's

blindness we now refer to

it as. Our first house, out

of a cramped apartment &

into something much more

spacious. Then things be-

gan to go wrong — a new

season & the heat became

unbearable. The rain that

came with it. Now contin-

uous winds that take tiles

off the roof, rattle windows.

Mould all over the cellar

walls; for which I brought

a friend around to help

scrape clean. Beneath it

what I thought something

of a decorative pattern—

-.-. .- ...- . .- - / . -- .--. - --- .-.

"Code," said the friend &

hauled out her cellphone,

started to translate. "That

first part reads caveat emp-

tor. & below that: you've

bought yourself a lemon."

 

 

 

#24: Civic Lesions

 

From our Municipal Reporter

Police are investigating allegations of corruption in the Mayor's office, something to do with the illegal possession & stockpiling of essential oils purported to be later used for the buying of votes.

That's the rumor. The truth, as always, far from it. Seems like nothing ever happens, nothing is ever done, in City Hall, just a lot of aimless sitting around. So much so that sores sprout on the ass, & the essential oils are there to bring relief.

 

 

 

#25: Session Twerk

 

Our 3-dimensional games feature in-game tutorials, guiding you

step-by-step through the first few levels.

 

Move your bottom to a specific genre of music.

 

Open your sacral chakra & invoke your divine feminine energy.

 

If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device.

 

Victoria's Secret model Cara Delevinge is a HERO 'cause she just

posted video of some of the VS supermodels TWERKING behind

the scenes.

 

Highly energetic booty shakin beats with floor pounding basslines

& stuttering top lines.

 

Stay tuned. Turn on post notifications.

 

Copy link. Info. Shopping. Share.

 

Watch later. Tap to unmute.

 

Upload once a week.

 

 

 

#37: Coat Hanger Analyses

 

An analysis of the Sydney Harbor & other "coat hanger" bridges in relation to modernity & postmodernity indicates that the weight of the coat should be evenly distributed over the length of the arms of the hanger.

Another research project has discovered, through a linear static stress analysis of those creative representations used in print advertising, that any members-only den item first released as part of a range of coat hanger accessories saves six centimeters of vertical space when a magnet is incorporated .

These & many of the other investigations confirm mold flow software was used to achieve the optimal design of that wire coat hanger featured on protest signs for decades, a device in the shape of human shoulders equivalent in surface area to 14.5 Olympic pools. Heavier or more delicate pieces require a phenomenological study where the hanger lies flat on a surface so its cancer-causing chemicals are spread uniformly across its width.

We use coat hanger shaped cookies to personalize content. Recent verified reviews confirm the online channel is cannibalizing offline sales.

 

 

 

#98: Superego Waffles

 

She originally went with a vision

of Rodin’s Le Penseur;  but de-

cided too butch, too muscly, too

much like straining on the toilet

seat to produce the menu she

had in mind. Therefore Michel-

angelo’s sculpture of Lorenzo de

Medici — pensive, slightly andro-

genous, elbow ensconced on the

money box in which, she decided,

her answers would be found. To

fill it, a posteriory of philosophers,

arranged in ascending alphabetical

order, with the individual concepts

that they’re known for named. Got

bored by the time she got to Barthes

& the floor covered with signs &

scraps that snarled at her like rabid

dogmas. Thought eff it, thought too

much effort, thought F is Freud, not

too much thinking there, let’s see

what he has on offer amongst his

psychic apparatus that fits my menu.

So now, proudly displayed, id-iom-

elet — surprise ingredients cooked

in the local style; ego & sausage

on toast — for boys, of course, the

size thing again; & then superego

waffles, that claim low sugar, low salt,

low butter, & are the perfect dish for

diners to think they’re still on diet.

 

The prompt for these poems is a list poem by Tom Beckett, “One Hundred Titles,” which appeared in Otoliths in February, 2022.

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Setu, August 2023