IT’S CRAZY THAT LA EXISTS
Poetry by:
ARI LISNER
It’s crazy That LA exists
My community has two locations
LA is the inverse of my world
And I don’t know the characters
But everyone is talented
It’s performance of it
Everyone knows the issue with the wire
It’s crazy to watch poetry go down here
It’s always about the other kids
LA’s transmascs are all little paupers to me
And there you go
I’d be a great sound guy
Everyone else is just all about their concepts
Thank god for the inverse of things thank god for the sound guy thank god for the time is not happening all at the same time
It was so good to see Chariot out here
And that it feels like an arm’s full extension
I love everyone’s little mustache
How I think I just needed season 2
Or a plot shift
Poetry is what you do
As a minor flex
To your main flex
I’m bad at change and love when it slaps me
In the face
A revelation
Beautiful
Ugly
Dictotomy
This is so generative!
And it alerts me that I ought not to use three exclamation points
Because that’s your voice
Mine is just the debrief
But at least it’s not tacky
Do not fret
Tegan and Sara are coming back
In the nick of time
One of the themes is meditation here
We bring everything to the table
Every day exhausted
And it’s like
Exhausting
Elastic energy from having a shirt go inward
No tits
Gender is the worst word I never want to hear it again vertical stripes colored socks open button cargo pant disciple reference industry speak leave on a funny note it’s one way to go out
I was the Anna Wintour of poetry
Or so I thought
The thing is I never flee the scene
Little critic TITLE
I love audiobooks TITLE
Different phrases
Same things
Not worth trying to keep up with lexicon
It has a payoff
All these risks
I love the word these
All these rocks
Cape cod fetish here
Three exclamation points!!!
Cultural research
Someone explains the very premise and it feels like romantic lore to me that LA IS A PLACE
Built on dreams
It’s that
Feedback loop
No more talk of gender upon return
LA not ready for the one schtick pony ride
One schtick is better than one trick like it’s a little more complicated
The world is styling me a side character
How do I make the necessary choices that will differentiate me and boost me
To a position of forerunner
In a strictly aesthetic sense
Controllable
And capable of bopping me to the top
I’m always chasing
But nope
It ends somewhere
I couldn’t do Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
A24’s first kids movie
That you said you cried to
And I loved that indie shit
Follow Ari:
Instagram: @arisbarmitzvah
Bio:
Ari Lisner is a poet, journalist, and researcher whose writing captures queer intimacy against the backdrop of New York City. Their work has been featured in The Brooklyn Rail, The Quarterless Review, Peach, Triangle House, Wonder, GQ, Allure, and others. ONE SCHTICK PONY, their first chapbook, is forthcoming with Bullshit Lit in 2023. Ari is also the co-founder of the poetry press Touch Me New World and the host of the reading series IT'S A SIGN at KGB Bar. Find Ari on Instagram at @arisbarmitzvah.
More From This Issue...
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
EST 2020
︎
© THE QUARTERLESS REVIEW ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
EST 2020
︎
© THE QUARTERLESS REVIEW ALL RIGHTS RESERVED