Fear of Flying
Jennifer Karmin
1.
greetings chairman greed
is make believe transformation
unsure of where to start
learn the location of all exits
mention these accolades
pick any card you win
2.
the district auction
provides regional insulation
well it's high time
we take a stand for everyman
if the performance collapses
something traumatic may happen
3.
at the retired stop sign
did you say “hey baby”
or “don’t be a baby”
a pool chair becomes a privilege
desk plants boost productivity
by 15%
4.
your advisors of quilts
laminate the command
an unconscious fantasy
at a special introductory price
for safety follow
these instructions
5.
members of the five-alarm fire
prepare for lady macbeth + cleopatra
in a collective tribal knit
you heard it here first
federal regulations require
the applicable functions
6.
your vitamins of intelligence
are a scientific FBI
external validation
remover of obstacles
there is nothing either good or bad
but thinking makes it so
Jennifer Karmin’s multidisciplinary projects have been presented across the U.S., Cuba, Japan, Kenya, and Europe. A founding curator of the Red Rover Series, she is author of the text-sound epic Aaaaaaaaaaalice. Her poetry is widely published, most recently in I’ll Drown My Book: Conceptual Writing by Women, The &NOW Awards: The Best Innovative Writing, the Iraq War chronicle 4000 Words 4000 Dead + Revolutionary Optimism: An American Elegy, and as Bernadette Mayer’s assistant on The Helens of Troy, NY. She teaches creative writing to immigrants at Truman College and has been a Visiting Writer at Naropa University, Oberlin College, California Institute of the Arts, plus a myriad of sites. In 2015, she returns to Cuba for a collaboration that will be part of the Havana Biennial.
