My baby first birthday
my mom was a baby and inside of her was another baby
if not for that baby I would still be just
like
an idea no one had yet
I walk around with fists pulled up to my sides
so when someone who has wronged me walks by
I can hit the air
breezing past the goo goo
with my baby fists
my goo goo oozes goo
my cunt hurts
being disease free is a breeze
my mom’s choco coco
gets inside of me and says, “goo!”
I feel close to her
we stay up late and scoop out goo
from one another’s brilliant snatches
diurnal creatures can fuck off
we are quite happy this way
You are the poorest person here
when I was born I was born
a victim
when you were born you were born
a hero
just kidding
you were anything you wanted to be
remember that you are supposed to
barf on me
& I am supposed to barf
on myself!
Go ahead
& say that I have not planned for my future
let’s hear you say that
your degree in sociology
is as important as being an unborn baby
the day we dropped the atom bomb
you cloud
& the mushroom tip of your dick
is just disgusting!
I don’t give if the third world makes hygiene
difficult
“I said I don’t give if the third world
puts you at a disadvantage
I didn’t choose to be born where I was born
& if your baby was not born
the day yr flower dress
got burned onto yr back
that’s like
not my fault!”
Okay
so is it my fault
that I want to leave this poetry reading
so I can go look at the electrical fire
& applaud for the fireman
who we think are great
because they are not poets
but one of them says something
he’s like, burhgh and we ask for more!
biography
JENNY ZHANG is the author of the poetry collection, Dear Jenny, We Are All Find (Octopus Books, 2012). Her fiction, non-fiction and poetry have been published or are forthcoming in HTMLGIANT, Glimmertrain, Pen American, Coconut,Octopus, Jezebel, The Guardian, and Vice. She writes for teenage girls at Rookie magazine, and teaches high school students in the Bronx. She’s currently a writer-in-residence at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.