Media-crity

I wrote this poem after sitting behind this girl in class one day. It was either shake the girl for being so stupid, or write a poem about it. The fun part was finding all of the brand names to use. I read it for an audience once, but I had to follow a guy who had written about the war and dead babies, so I felt really dumb going up there. But, I told the audience that, and they laughed, and then laughed at the poem. Felt pretty good.

Capitalist

Ray-bans hold back expensively-subtle, copper-plated strands.
Short-sleeved sweatshirt proclaims Abercrombie
in studded blue letters, layers a $30-plus-interest
Ralph Lauren spaghetti-strapped scrap of stretch cotton.
Victoria’s Secret is carefully visible,
a Y bisecting her pre-purchase distressed Hollister jeans,
butterfly patch, casually whimsical, centered in
a vintage attempt on the back pocket,
factory-frayed hems drape her Sketchers-of-the-week.
Clinique-glossed lips form a laugh that would be disdainful
if only she knew what it meant.

“Take down capitalism,” she says.