Unfortunately

Unfortunately

She wasn't in
class today, gone.

Oh Dear Me

Oh Dear Me

I can't help
but feel guilty.
After all, it was
my fault. At home
we struggle, as they say,
"To make ends meet."

I beat myself
up over it.
No one's to blame
but me. A loser
doesn't even begin...

Major English Literature II 2

Major English Literature II 2

Well, well, well.
You've read
Melville & both
the Brownings!
Oh, oh, oh.
And you quote
Oscar Wilde yourself!
You've been everywhere?
My, my, my.
Paris, Florence, museums!
and yet you talk like a valley
girl, you don't know
what a scrivener is?
you cheer the Duke
of Ferrera? Unfortunately,
either the curtains go
or Oscar Wilde. You cling
to your decor.
The professor, a doctor
no less, says "Frankly,
you seem a bitch."

English 355

English 355

They criticize Chekov
and Joyce Carol Oates,
say their language
is inaccessible, boring,
pointless. My teacher
doesn't persuade.

They claim understanding,
deep understanding.
Profound understanding.
The room fills
with fog, they continue
talking. Chekov and Oates.
Even the one couldn't
empathize, the other
can't match the bleakness.

I persuade myself:
there's nothing more,
they just seem bitches.

Seven Set

Seven Set

Sometimes I feel
like I'm the only one
walking upstairs.
Rows of feet stomp down
each step, a wall
pushing me towards the rail.
I muffle their voices
with unplugged headphones,
stay to the right with my head

down. I reach the top
floor and get stuck
holding the door for those
voiceless, faceless shoes.
I don't bother
with the stairs
or the elevator
on the way down.

Ars Poetica

Ars Poetica

I am Zachary Harris
I am white
I am a slave to my education
I am whipped by grades
I am lynched by teachers

I am Zachary Harris
I am a slow runner
I am duck footed
I am pigeon footed
I am weighed by scales

I am Zachary Harris
I am huge kings fan
I am royalty
I am your majesty
I AM ZOD! KNEEL BEFORE ME!

I am Zachary Harris
I am not a musician
I am Ray Charles
I am tone deaf
I am Helen Keller
I am Kurt Cobain

I am Zachary Harris
I am failing English
…go figure.

I am Zachary Harris
I am a poet!
I am superior
I am your teacher
I am grading your poem
I am giving you an F
I am giving myself a B.

out of a hundred

out of a hundred

she talks like high
school students, failing
to break for air. brushed
on cheeks. gray blue
light glows on
her face. monotone,
usual, techno-slave.
she sounds like blurred
running zebras

look. Sometimes
you pervert
lost lifestyles,
at least you’re not
just another red
blood cell. you're white
as puss. I can't get
enough.

Ex

Ex

You say you wouldn't date an ex-
pornstar because of their loose past.
You don't want other guys watching
your girl. You don't like
the pleasure they get from her. Fake
sense of ownership, real jealousy.

Maybe a reformed ex-pornstar
wouldn't want to date you. They're not
that desperate. You are stuck with
the ones left on the computer.

on my knees

on my knees

i havent prayed
in half a year
Hell be waiting
for me at home
though. silent,
i fold
small hands

together. wait,
empty of words,
for thoughts to spill,
overwhelm us.
the cross stops
my mouth.
Amen

leopard print reflection

leopard print reflection

shoes & coat have spots.
her chin wrinkles when she talks.
her left eye slightly droops
when she smiles. there's a slight gap
between her teeth. her s's
are sibilant. her tattoos,
discolored, uneven. I
notice her large, bony
ankles and shins.
her large nails, broken,
chipped. hair dyed
to hide split ends. I run
my fingers through her
curls, match the asymmetry
on our face.