magnetic poetry, zine fest-style

I spent a piece of Sunday afternoon at L.A. Zine Fest, primarily at the urging of Brodie and his friends, a cadre of friendly ladies with punk hair and vintage clothing. It occupied a big garage/warehouse-type space at the Helms Bakery Building, and it was a little overwhelming. I’m not well versed in the zine world, and I wanted to read everything with a funny title or a cute cartoon on the cover or an interesting binding or a friendly person selling it. Which is to say, pretty much everything.

That would have made it easy to get a kind of quick, general shot of inspiration and leave having purchased nothing. But I reminded myself that staying part of the literary community means diving deep and being at least a little bit extroverted. So I made my rounds and ended up with a handful of awesome-seeming zines.

Aurora Lady's zine from Fair Dig Press. I heard her read Wednesday night, and she was funny and vulnerable and great.

Because I like to draw, I am so tempted to make a little zine. But I’m sure zinesters would be the first to point out that it’s not easy. And I have So. Many. Fucking. Projects. Right now I’m putting in about five minutes per project per week. So many file folders in my brain.

Instead, I wrote this very short found poem comprised of titles and signage found at Zine Fest.

typography & shit

tastes like

shitty poetry I wrote, 16-18

thoughts I almost post as Facebook updates but then don’t

create. scheme. remember.

cheese eggs & potatoes

shit you learn in the bathroom

bathroom (fresh, local, organic)

my family’s vaginas

fighting patriarchy 1 diaper at a time

sassquatch shorts

shut up you’re not my real dad

martin the satanic raccoon

abuela y los dead Mexicans

soy un perdedor

cry now, cry later

transform the police that live inside you

melancholy rainbow

I hate being an adult

puppies welcome