Michael Chang

Bake Sale

‘is it done?’ the mother texts the shoplifter
who happens to be her daughter
smelling of pot roast
& filetto ai tre pepi
w/ buzzards circling overhead
u announce the dissolution of ur marriage
i’m sorry to hear abt ur panned performance
it proves what we’ve suspected all along
method acting is not for kids !
suddenly, abduction seems a more viable prospect
bring the poison, squawks bernard-henri lévy
as minions emerge from a hidden door
presenting a basket of treats
he wolfs down like a buffoon
‘mon dieu,’ they mumble under rancid breath
true love, of coz it exists,
of coz there’s nothing there,
bernard concludes, still chewing

Michael Chang (they/them) is the author of many volumes of poetry, including Synthetic Jungle (Northwestern University Press, 2023), Toy Soldiers (Action, Spectacle, 2024), and Things A Bright Boy Can Do (Coach House Books, 2025). They won the Poetry Project’s Brannan Prize and edited Lambda Literary’s Emerge anthology. Their work has appeared in such publications as AGNI, the American Poetry Review, the Harvard Review, the Iowa Review, and POETRY. They are judging Cream City Review’s 2025 Prize in Poetry.