THE WORK IN
CONVERSATION
M RANDALL SHARES ARTWORK IN RESPONSE TO ALLY ANG’S POEM, “CLICK TO VERIFY YOU ARE HUMAN”
CLICK TO VERIFY YOU ARE HUMAN
Rain drools from the sky’s slack mouth
on Christmas morning. Despite living
in a notoriously wet city, I don’t own
an umbrella, or property, and I probably
never will. It’s fifty degrees at the end
of December; what’s the point
of a 401(k)? Everyone around me
is grieving a city that I arrived too late
to inhabit. Sometimes I pour hot
cooking oil down the sink because
the pipes aren’t mine to tend to
and I won’t be around to witness
the consequences of their deterioration.
Much of my life does not belong
to me: my home, my time, my labor,
my attention. I scroll through photos
of acquaintances posing with their
families in matching Christmas
sweaters, through videos of Palestinians
freezing in their makeshift tents,
through half a dozen posts asking Is it
just me or does Christmas feel different
this year? To get into the holiday spirit,
I click on a porn video where bear daddy
Santa Claus stuffs a twink elf’s stocking,
and a pop-up ad tells me I can create
my own AI fantasy woman to jerk off to
with tits that bounce and shine like overly
inflated water balloons. Is it wrong
to want more from my pleasure—flesh,
mess, sweat, breasts that flop and sag
instead of glisten? To want more from life
than to outsource my living? In order
to continue, I must select each square
containing an image of a motorcycle.
There is no other way to prove
my humanity.
M Randall’s reflection:
I related deeply to Aly’s writing. The way they describe going through a delusional state because of what is happening across the globe, while at home everything is normal and joyous. The frustrations of the habits of life, and then quickly falling into a depression over it. I wanted to convey this dissociation the most, the out-of-body experiences, the devotion to vulnerability. With a touch of fantasy, some things are more bearable.
Ally Ang is the author of Let the Moon Wobble (Alice James Books). Their work has appeared in The Rumpus, the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day, Seattle Met, and elsewhere. They co-host Other People's Poems, a poetry open mic and reading series in Seattle. Hear Ally Ang at CHUM’s poetry reading on May 7 in Columbia City.
M Randall is a queer interdisciplinary artist based in Seattle. They use themes of gender and materialism to explore the physicality of change. M uses recycled materials such as found objects, plastic bags, and everyday waste, for the dual purpose of reducing their carbon footprint and utilizing the memories objects hold, while still giving them a new meaning.