We boys were marching up to Rodman Hall for supper when he stopped and I bumped into him

He whirled around and pointed at me and touched his lips with his middle finger and slicked it back over his head

I protested

He said yes you touch my butt

I said accident not see

He said not believe you

Before breakfast next morning he saw me watching Gilligan’s Island

He switched the channel

Hey

He laughed

Next morning he did the same thing

I said oh that better thank you

He frowned and pressed the remote

That interesting awesome

Switch switch switch

Then Gilligan’s Island was back on and I said no no not that

He laughed and left Gilligan’s Island on

One time I was in the shower room and a rocket of water slammed into me

Fire extinguisher

I couldn’t see anything except for a baseball cap

It was his cap

I laughed and said more more feel good come on

His last year I was still learning the art of the white cane

Sometimes I got delayed tapping around for landmarks

One night I was tapping between Noyes Hall and Frechette Hall and a boy offered his arm

I didn’t know who until under a lamp I saw a baseball cap

Inside Frechette Hall I thanked him and he smiled

A few minutes later Gary Karow our houseparent came up to me and told me that the bully was so happy that he had helped me

A week before he graduated he grabbed my bag of books while my nose wa buried in a book

As I searched for it he gave the bag back and said that he did it because I wasn’t paying attention

His last words to me before leaving were you take care man

Some years later he drove down to Texas with a friend to help him pick up a pickup truck

On his way back alone it was twilight and still in Texas when he turned off his headlights

He steered into oncoming traffic

A car swerved in time

Another swerved

Then it was a truck which couldn’t swerve and that baseball cap

John Lee Clark

It’s such a beautiful day. I hit the skatepark on my lunch break. Although I rollerblade everyday, my progress has stagnated. I have not picked up any skills. I only use the skills I already have so I won’t lose them. I no longer wanted to take the risks to advance to the next level even though I have all the protective gears. I am getting old.

I haven’t set my foot into an ice skating rink in a while. I lost all of my jumping skills. I might head back to it someday. After the kids moved on, I no longer had the reason or the motivation to keep going. Xuân is my only son who is still passionate about scootering; therefore, we still hit the skateparks together. Once he no longer wanted to go, that would be it for me. It wouldn’t feel right going to the skatepark by myself and leaving the kids with my wife even though they would be playing on their digital devices anyway.

As a parent, I have lost my battle against digital addiction. Not even bubble teas, BonChon chicken, nor sushi could get them out of the house. The only thing that might work is through forcing. It’s no longer fun if they come out with angry faces. On one hand, some parents who are too busy trying to make ends meet don’t have the time to spend with their kids. On the other hand, my kids would rather spend time on their devices than with me. It’s super sad.

Since we spend a ridiculous amount of time on our phone, we might as well doing something fun with it. Chris Silverman, my friend and an extraordinary illustrator, draws #notesArt everyday. It is amazing how he uses tools that were intended for annotating documents to draw his incredible artworks. Check out the gallery as well as a short video about the project.

Medlin’s 808 & Otherworlds is a vibrant, pulsating, stunning collection on hip-hop, racism, and Blackness. Their response to Kanye West’s “400 years of slavery sounds like a choice,” is candid and critical. If you love hip-hop, you will enjoy Medlin’s lyrical poetry.

My best friend, a sweet man,
drove all the way from Mankato
when my wife left me. At the door
he stood as tall as I
and we hugged. Then he said,
“Look good you. How manage?
Can’t imagine. If my wife left
for sure gunmyheadshoot will.”
I gave him a don’t-be-silly shove.
Before he left, I could feel him looking
at me. He said that seeing me alone
made him cherish his wife. He did,
but his wife left him anyway
and—well, he did.

John Lee Clark

Bates’s thrilling debut collection begins with “The Dog.” An image of a dog stuck on a lease outside of the door as the train pulls away can’t escape my mind. Bates’s writing is dark and intimate. “Conversation with Mary” is one of my personal favorites. Quite a read.

I love trees that stay
away from me. But when a leafy finger
pokes my eye, I squint.
I’m willing to dismiss it
as an irony. A limb
that knocks my head because I didn’t duck?
That turns my heart into a chainsaw.

John Lee Clark

In his latest Netflix special, Chris Rock had many things to get off his chest. He tackled selected wokeness: people still play Michael Jackson’s music but not R. Kelly’s. He stood with the pro-choice: women can kill their kids up to four years old. Obviously, that’s satirical.

He pointed out the divisiveness in America politics: Republicans lie; Democrats leave out key parts of the truth. He complimented on female beauty: his ex-wife has as much money as he does and she isn’t even funny. If Beyoncé were to work at Burger King, she would still marry JAY-Z. In contrast, if JAY were working at Burger King, it would not have been the same.

That was Rock’s transition into the moment we were all waiting for: his response to the Oscar incident last year. He slapped back not only at Will Smith, but also his wife. He reserved the last 8 minutes of the show to eviscerate them and dropped the mic. As the master of crafting and timing his materials, Rock remains one of the best comics in America. Selective Outrage is highly entertaining.

The trails are filled with fresh snow
Let’s put on your skis and get out
Don’t just sit around and glue to your screen
Put that motherfucking phone down

The food your mom prepared is ready
Don’t make her yell your name out loud
You better get your ass off the couch
Put that motherfucking phone down

The piano is getting lonely and dusty
You have not played a single sound
You need to learn your notes and counts
Put that motherfucking phone down

The laundry is clean and ready to be folded
Straighten out your grumpy face and put on a smile
You need to do some chores around the house
Put that motherfucking phone down

The opportunities won’t last forever
Take advantage of them now
Get up, get out, and do something wild
Put that motherfucking phone down

Donny Trương

I dig the bold typographic treatment on the cover of the book. The collection is about the beauty of the ordinary. Koethe writes about poetry and use the analogy of poetry in his poems. The first poem in the collection titled “What Was Poetry?” I also love the last one titled “A Way of Putting It,” in which he ends with:

Instead of reaching a conclusion, getting old is a study in tone
That leaves you where you are—still listening to yourself
A lifetime away from where you started, and not far from home.