THE MAKING OF X
“If a poem isn’t written in THE ZONE, then forget it”—Philip Lamantia
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my therapist is a jungian
i only hired
cuz i thought he was ‘union’
if it seems too good to be true
it probably is
at the tequila tasting
homestyle tacos
to shake loose my skin
lavish matters
not seen in sears photo studio
as jung said:
nature must not win the game, but she cannot lose
(i suppose u had to be there)
simon cowell denying responsibility
for liam’s death
none other than justice william o. douglas stating:
i don’t follow precedents, i make ’em
lamb is the upgrade to beef
it’s called the salmon of meat for a reason
(an incredible sentence on many levels)
how can criticism take us to the performance ?
horse wit no name
sent off to spa town
we make ways for each other
we make waves for each other
brown loafer / white sock
WHITE TUXEDO
the guy i was seeing performed poorly
it didn’t deter me
it seems like he’ll never recover
[taxi driver]: why u get in my car
city lights, daz CANON
this bed has no chinese exclusion
amish w/ all the technology
unhinged poem addressing SIRI:
‘don’t think ur / getting anything / out of this’
squeezed more out of YWCA than VCCA
they say prettiest fish most poisonous
muscle mommies
old school & persnickety
not to mention
granola girls
scared of metal detectors
tickling my prostate
w/ frostbitten hands
these bastards can’t hide it
i am lunch
i saw the stomach first
props if u share ur singapore noodles
we become symbols
the thrill is gone
MICHAEL CHANG
MICHAEL CHANG (they/them) is the author of THINGS A BRIGHT BOY CAN DO (Coach House Books, 2025) and HEROES (Temz Review/845 Press, 2026). They won the Poetry Project's Brannan Prize and edited Lambda Literary's Emerge anthology. Their work has appeared in such publications as AGNI, the American Poetry Review, the Greensboro Review, Harvard Review, the Iowa Review, and POETRY. They judged Cream City Review's 2025 Prize in Poetry. They live in Manhattan.
Why this Knocked Taylor Out:
I'm not quite sure what the style of these poems is called on a technical level (craft level?), but I see it popping up more and more and I'm always a huge fan partly because I don't think I could write anything like this and partly because it turns our "ideas" of "poetry" on their head. And I’m stoked to have discovered MICHAEL CHANG may be one of the originators? (Other poets writing like this include Tommy Pico if you are interested!) The playfulness of language while also questioning classic privilege structures is just wonderful. I totally get that this kind of poetry isn't for everyone BUT I'd ask people to question why isn't this for you? When I got to the sentence "(an incredible sentence on many levels)" I just smiled so big and knew I was gonna say yes.
Both of these also subvert the necessity of syntax through their lack of (mostly) punctuation and lines allowed to be read with the line before and the line after. These are somehow just so fun and so serious at the same time and I think that’s the sign of a great writer.
ALSO, these are the last poems I’ll be publishing until May 7th (self-given maternity leave) and I think these are a great last two to end on.
Interview:
Why did you choose Team Taylor for this poem?
Team Taylor appreciates the weird and the eccentric!!