Working Models by Chris Campanioni | Really System: Issue Seven

Working Models

Chris Campanioni

If you're bad with algebra
Substitute letters for words

If you're afraid of the dark
Close your eyes

If you lost your nerve
Take a long look inside

If you're addicted to shoes
Get in touch with your feet

If you're nervous
Have some whisky

If you're a working model
Thank genetics & your agent

If you're broke
Procure a toolset

If you're hard of hearing
Listen carefully

Then circle the word that is most closely related
To silence

A) Traffic
B) Infants
C) Margins in a book of poems

Chris Campanioni writes about media representation and the cult of celebrity, how we construct our selves, and the ways in which we communicate. He is the recipient of the 2013 Academy of American Poets Prize for his collection, In Conversation, and his novel, Going Down, was awarded Best First Book at the 2014 International Latino Book Awards. Find him in space at www.chriscampanioni.com or in person, somewhere between Brooklyn Bridge Park and Barclays Center.

ISSUE SEVEN: May Sell Tyres | next poem →