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Dylan Marx’s work exists across multiple mediums, shapes, and forms, but it always carries a familiar sense of play and earnestness. That may be because his poems and songs often begin from the same place, and at some point, Dylan decides whether the poem would be better off sung or read. The drawings, too, mostly come from that same place––doodled into the margins of his notebook.

Both New Shorts and what's in a leaf's in a nail are part of one project, a book called where (we)re. The pieces traverse memory and place, humor and sadness, feeling both safe and full of surprise. Sometimes, the poems ask the reader questions, like “Have you ever listened to the sound of a rock scraped / against a tree trunk? There really is a lot there.” Sound is consistently important in the work––Dylan says music was the first medium he ever took seriously (beginning with piano lessons in his youth “with an incredible teacher named Miss Cynthia.”) Thus, it was imperative to include audio in this mini portfolio. I Fall Asleep at Operas comes from Romu Otsimine or Black Oil Sunflower for Wild Birds, a 9-track album that will be released this summer.

New Shorts

I wrote you a letter on a train. It was cold, and everyone
was smoking. I lost the letter (something about warm
water)



Once I saw you twirl into the cafeteria and pop open an
umbrella. I was throwing pizzas in the oven, wearing a
yellow hat, refusing to smile.



Have you ever listened to the sound of a rock scraped
against a tree trunk? There really is a lot there



Picture this: shakespeare, a walkie talkie, the rolling stones,
street sharks



Buried beneath layers and layers of sand, dirt, and
dust is the peg used to hold together Guido de Arezzo’s
legendary monochord. Farther down, his bones.



There are too many cushions now, and a handful of rocks.
The blue of the sky is a bit off.



“You sharpen yourself as a weapon of God”
I go down the stairs, like a gazelle

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