a hippo heads straight for the surf
looking for a feeling of smallness in salt water
 
I dump some more salsa
on my night nachos
 
there’s a way if you try hard you can make life
really good 
 
bike shop with its doors open this morning I saw
a dude on Clark Street leaving the gym in his shorts
I saw goldendoodles without sweaters I saw girls 
in hoodies getting after-school chips 
& tea in a can I saw my kid take his coat off while
running on the playground & saw myself 
thinking it wasn’t worth getting up to chastise
he was wearing his skull sweatshirt
 
& now I’m seeing a jaguar fight a crocodile
 
& sure I’m stoned but the kid’s asleep
 
thought about opening windows today
shit winter’s so warm we didn’t 
bother taping them this year
 
there’s not much to like about Obama’s post-presidency as of 2024
but what a great voice for nature documentaries
 
a macaque jumps on 
the back of a distracted deer
& I think how humiliating without language
no negotiation 
no established friendship
you’re a vessel now deer let me ride you
 
there’s no penance I know
to make up for droning Lebanese weddings
or not closing Guantanamo 
 
there’s no reward I know
for being the first Black man
trying to preside in Trump country
 
at least 80 species live in a sloth’s fur
algae swamp moss—I dunno—looks itchy
 
animals & people willingly live in the Arctic
& Mark Zuckerberg’s terraforming Hawaii 
despite locals four years ago 
being like STOP COMING HERE PLEASE 
THE LAND CAN’T HANDLE IT
 
the land can’t handle it
the land can’t handle it
the land can’t handle it 
 
some endangered condors are making
a comeback in Chile

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Prompt

It’s easy to say we live in unprecedentedly bad times—partially because we sort of do—but that does not change the fact that there is beauty and goodness and things worth living for in the world. One part of a writer’s job is to call attention to horror, another part of a writer’s job is celebrate wonder when we see it. Still a third part of a writer’s job is going outside. Take a walk around your block/the wilderness/near a body of water. That’s the first step. Then think of something you love and something that pisses you off and put them both in a poem. Bonus points if you can fit in at least two questions and/or anaphora.

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Chris Corlew (he/him) is a writer and musician in Chicago. With Bob Sykora, he co-hosts The Line Break, a podcast about poetry and basketball. With Brendan Johnson, he is 1/2 of LAZY & ENTITLED, a writing and musical collaboration. He can be found blogging at shipwreckedsailor.substack.com or on Bluesky/Twitter @thecorlew.