Jeremy Schmall Poems
from Jeremy Schmall & the Cult of Comfort
Andrew Jackson
finished off the Creek Indian
civilization after fighting beside them.
Why Andrew?
& he puts his finger in my nose.
To the gods goes my excess asparagus,
linoleum tabletop & coffee-bruised newspaper.
I say the mountain’s not coming.
I say “the traffic,” and shrug.
There’s just not enough Vaseline
for the whole room.
I do apologize.
If the presentation never ends maybe
I can keep this laser pointer.
Rabbit under truck tire
by the high school
already cold.
Socks up to my teeth.
Electric drill to the avocado.
Striped wallpaper behind a plastic folding chair.
It’s certainly not always the case
that infidels will stalk the dumb hallways
rimming the family manor
but we’d like to believe
our cheap picture frames & outdated
electronics are at least worth stealing.
There is an exercise inside everyone’s skull
that forces them to stop slathering
lotion on their hands and wonder
what we can’t know until next March.
The assignment now is to ruin the face
of your opponent with a grapefruit spoon.
There’s a certain trick to remaining
calm while a grizzly claws
through the meat under your ribcage
but no one’s ever lived to tell it.
Jeremy Schmall is the founder & co-editor of Agriculture Reader, and author of “Open Correspondence from the Senator, Vol. 1: But a Paucity of His Voluminous Writings” (X-ing). His work has appeared in PEN America, The Laurel Review, Columbia Poetry Review, Juked, and Forklift Ohio. He lives in New York City.
Sunday Service
Hey, awesome! Very glad to click over here and find these. Cheers!
Hey, awesome! Very glad to click over here and find these. Cheers!
love the juxtaposition of genocide with nonsensical language poetry — how thought provoking
love the juxtaposition of genocide with nonsensical language poetry — how thought provoking
Brilliant.
And a plug: Jeremy Schmall reads at the Solar Anus on March 20 w/ Lily Brown and Scott McClanahan!
Brilliant.
And a plug: Jeremy Schmall reads at the Solar Anus on March 20 w/ Lily Brown and Scott McClanahan!
[…] courtesy of Jeremy Schmall. Tags: Jeremy Schmall, Matt DeBenedictis, Scott […]
[…] poem by Wendell Berry, with compliments and hat-tips to Jeremy Schmall, Robert Snyderman, and everyone at the Corresponding Society. – […]
[…] founder and co-editor of the Agriculture Reader, and the author of the forthcoming book of poems, Jeremy Schmall & the Cult of Comfort (X-ing). His work has been published in PEN America, Laurel Review, Washington Square, and Forklift […]
[…] by and visit the bookfair table we’ll be sharing with The Agriculture Reader and its editors Jeremy Schmall and Justin […]