Slash and Mr. Spock Sitting in the Waffle House at the End of the Universe
Amorak Huey & W. Todd Kaneko
In the dying light of the final star,
there will be breakfast at the last
truck stop between here and oblivion,

a pair of quasars sunny side up,
a bundle of flimsy bacon and a bottle
of Jack Daniels. Spock can't help
but admire that hue and ooze
of yolk, that way an egg is all

things—an embryo, a planet, a goop
of sunshine with a prehistoric bob
and quiver for the fork. Outside,
the truckers shake their heads
at the loads that won't ever reach

their destinations: dilithium crystals
burned out for warp drives, wall clocks
with hands stuck forever at ten and two,
cans of chili con carne and cling peaches,

their expiration dates now irrelevant.
The Vulcan takes a slug of whiskey
as he observes Slash preparing to eat
a waffle, pouring syrup into every crevice
without spilling any onto the plate.

Just eat it, Spock says.  At any moment
we could tumble ass over ashes, collapse
back into that cosmic dust that spawned
us in the vacuum.
Slash takes a first bite
and wipes a dribble of syrup from his chin
on his sleeve. That's rock and roll, he says
with his mouth full. Spock cannot argue logic
for the supernova, reason for catastrophe,
appetite for the eater of worlds.
from the book SLASH / SLASH / Diode Editions
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Color formal headshot of Kwame Dawes
Kwame Dawes: Jamaica's New Poet Laureate

"Dawes, 61, was appointed poet laureate of Jamaica in April. Dawes was selected through a public nomination process open to all naturalized or native Jamaicans with at least three published collections of poetry. He was chosen by a committee from the National Library of Jamaica....'It means a lot to be recognized by your own, by people who call you your own people,' Dawes said in a press release."

via WILLAMETTE WEEK
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Cover image from The Missouri Review, Spring 2024
What Sparks Poetry:
Gilad Jaffe on Language as Form


"Temporary things don’t want to be permanent—at the end of the day, I like to think they fall in love with their own uncertainty. The purple vinyl seats melting into the Iowan wall, the orange traffic cones stationed at an intersection in Rhode Island, blossoming. 'The yellow horses spilling from their sidewalk stalls, sidestepping fruit vendors in an inharmonious derby…'"
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