Christine Kelly
Ornamental Disruption
this is not an allegory-making strategy for sport
if the subcommittee implements a new modesty law
we will require a clothing stipend to cover it
binding in a rectangular perimeter with show me how
much I can expect to pay for sport
resist the modesty law with theatrical ornament
that says too much means too much forms a star
mobilizing TMI, I don’t know what to do with a star
by animating it I ground it then I put mustard on it
creating it it, the star
a self-healing unsystem
Midair, Rung by Rung
For Alina Tenser
Above glosswashing
was Freud’s preferred bronze.
An artist’s ladder
to the green sabbatical
appearing rung by rung
the missing spear
of his serviceable Athena
in every wish something repelled
in every meal an insect
and another thing!
If occupation
just blew off idle the van
on better offramps.
Freud’s banana lacks fiber.
Now you pretty too
and other credentials
Turning on the Boss.
Christine Kelly is a poet, artist, and performer living in North Adams, MA. She is the author of Allow Me to Slip on Something a Little More Hypocycloid (PRROBLEM, 2025) and many chapbooks. She is also the Senior Visual Arts Editor of Tupelo Quarterly.