Mar 29, 2024

Poems by Mark Young

A LINE FROM PETE TOWNSEND

We invented all the complexity
ourselves. We probably have
trust issues. Remove the obser-
ver. Can we not make them

randomly float forty yards into
the air? Migrants do not flee
persecution just because we get
around. The dance heads in a

different direction. The music has
changed. It is a song everybody
recognizes. We all sing along.
It is a very pleasant adjustment.


SHE / CAMPAIGNS AS / A HORTATORY POPULIST

Equality isn’t what it used to be; even
though nothing still equals nothing
&, according to Parmenides, nothing
comes from nothing. Which probably
means that any equality there is to be
found will turn out to be worth no-
thing & not worth noting. Neverthe-
less, she will undoubtedly still be ex-
horting us to practise equality when
it really should be equity she espouses.

Poem by Stephen Bett

Novel Lines 101:  101 alphabetical poems, each riffing on the opening line of a postmodern novel or metafiction. Antonio Lobo Antunes, Act o...