Poem #3:
Espousing bitching indignities in the
Crosshairs of Bayard and Baxter
Weaseling into the lower ranks
Of the General Men, of the
General Phalanxes—
A horseshoe as admission.

The fallen Babylon being
Remnants of those gentrified watering holes
Still home to skeletoned
Carhartt but Alien to such pale
Faces.

Erupting cocks and breasts and all that
Has been cut, spliced, or spatchcocked between,

Because eye bags are back!
And so are unemployment benefits
And so are the slums
And so is XXXXX XX XXXX XXXXXXX
And so Is that lippy vocal fry
And so is Nicorette
And so is incest
And so is age play
And so is pregnancy
And so is al that provokes the provocative
To deliberate upon these TV-minded Philistines.

Whisper in my ear and
Put your tongue back in your fucking throat.
Write me something in script,
Rhyme to revive Mr. Whitman.
Give back the Grandmother her cane.

Bio: Josh Ilano is a New York-Based Writer and Journalist currently pursuing their undergraduate at Pace University. Josh’s poetry and creative nonfiction has been featured in the literary magazine Aphros. They were previously the Arts and Culture editor of the collegiate newspaper The Pace Press, and currently holds a position on their executive board. Independently they publish on their Substack “Dillinger,” and asides from writing, they freelance with Columbia University’s Directing MFA program. Josh aspires to buy their motherproperty in Nebraska one day.