requiem for an election cycle - mk zariel

your friend is starting an affinity group while you 

stare into the aether of what you could be doing 

of maxed-out planners of half-smirked conversations 

motivation, like your ex, only appears when you were almost alright with her absence. autumn lingers in the air like 

the scent of false promises on your breath 

the world is starting something—which could be possibility 

or maybe just fascism, again—while leaves and aesthetics 

grow faded, murky—while you are burnt-out or 

reignited or never full of sparks to begin with—you could 

reinvent yourself, or maybe just phonebank, again, for 

the tenth hour this week—but you won't 

because hope is a ray of light 

that might prove itself too bright, too glowing 

to stay.

mk zariel (it/its) is a BashBack influenced transmasculine neuroqueer dyke anarchist. it organizes trans liberationist spaces across the great lakes region, performs spoken-word and theater, does graphic design for social movements, and vibes to classic queercore. it also hosts the podcast THE CHILD AND ITS ENEMIES (about anarchy in high school), writes for the Anarchist Review of Books, and writes the blog DEBATE ME BRO (a y2k style advice column about anarchy 101). its free-verse poetry is published (or forthcoming) in Unfuturing, Not Your Poster Child, Free Voice Revolution, What We Think About When We Think About Love, Chasing The Storm, The Creekside, The Insurgence, Anti-Misogyny Club, A Rose By Any Other Name, Suburban Witchcraft, Iceblink, Morning Star Literary, Marigold Community Zine,Midwestern Heat, HNDL Mag, Broken Teacup, The Groke, The Periwinkle Pelican, en*gendered, Minerva Press, The Nebula Journal, redrosethorns, miniMAG, and MyrtleHaus; its photography is featured in Coin Operated Press’s queer photography zine. it was a contributor to Communication Madison's art exhibition Let Me Tell You, a participant in Free Zine Week 2024, and collaborated with the artist f.f. kahani on an online mixed-media installation. it has presented on youth liberation at BashBack 2023, Smash By Smash West, Davidson Academy Online, Second Unitarian in Lakeview, and the SRSLY WRONG Discord Server. it is a moderator for the Spooky Specters and Chasing The Storm zines. hang out with mk on the big gay internet: https://linktr.ee/mkzariel