The Cartoon & Poem Supplement

"See you later, alligator."

Poems:

“Marigold” by Mary Jo Bang: Only three weeks since the previous Bang joint! As ever, a compelling kaleidoscope that coheres in a dreamy, non-literal way. Here, though, the dream is kinda literal; there’s also an early subliminal Rosemary’s Baby reference – and perhaps Bang is writing a cycle about her own first name, because as with the previous effort, it’s at the center of things here. Very quickly builds its eerie but playful atmosphere, in which the speaker gift-shops for “the dead,” in a sleeping conundrum which disappears at the last turn. What to make of the first two lines? Maybe it’s just pointing us toward a daydream – “going to bed” while the sun is still up. But there’s flirtation there, too. Between sex, sleep, and death, this hits the surrealist trifecta.