DJ Poems

DJ POEM #100

for Mark Baumer

I believe in a thing called war—
Huh. Yeah. What is every morning?
There’s a halo hanging
on the corner, walking in Memphis,
I’ve seen footage. Country roads.

Is this real life?
Somebody once told me—
sunday bloody Sunday—
we’re not gonna take it,
no, we’re not gonna
party in the USA, Mama.
Just killed a man.

RICKY RIP IT

I’M INTO HAVING SEX I AIN’T COOL
KIDS NEVER HAVE THE TIME JESUS
TAKE THE WHEEL HERE
COMES THE SUN EVERYBODY

IN THE CLUB, GETTING TIPSY I
SAW THE WOLF IN THE STORM FIRST
YOU GET A SWIMMING POOL FULL OF LOVING
IS WHAT I GOT FOREVER YOUNG

DJ DISTANCE

HOW FAR IS HEAVEN LIVING
IN AN AMISH PARADISE
TO THE WINDOWS TO THE WALL

TELL ALL THE ENGLISH BOYS DON’T
WANNA BE AN AMERICAN GIRL
YOU’RE MY ANGEL YOU’RE
EVERYWHERE TO ME YOUR
BODY IS A WONDERLAND
TO THE WINDOWS TO THE WALL

WHY DON’T YOU SLIDE BACK
THAT ASS UP UNDER
MY UMBRELLA, ELLA WHY
WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WAIT
TILL I GET MY MONEY RIGHT
HERE RIGHT NOW MY
NAME IS NO HEAVEN
ISN’T TOO FAR AWAY COME
TO MY WINDOW ALL
INSECTS SING TONIGHT TO
THE WINDOWS, THE WALL.

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Tyler Barton is the cofounder of FEAR NO LIT, the organization behind the 2017 Submerging Writer Fellowship. He’s a fiction editor for Blue Earth Review, a podcast host for Weekly Reader, and an intern for Sundress Publications. Every other Friday, he meets with a group of senior citizens and helps them write poems and essays. Find his recent works of fiction in Little Fiction, matchbook, No Tokens, and Midwestern Gothic. This is his first poetry publication. Learn more at tsbarton.com or @goftyler.