Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Yes! A hamburger! A mustard grin! Ketchup smiles!

Three poems by Sarah Sala

ATTENDANCE: A CATALOGUE:

  • my car broke down,
  • my mother became someone I didn’t recognize, I had
  • a relapse, my sister got beat up, I felt the tremendous
  • anxiety of living, do you remember me, no busses go there,
  • I had an abortion, I’m bedridden with a virus, my ex-
  • boyfriend robbed me, the nurses are sweet, I couldn’t find
  • parking, one of my animals died and the other is sick,
  • I fell asleep and didn’t wake up, my grandma is having
  • a mastectomy, my roommate is an undergrad too,
  • we’re pulling the plug on my aunt today, I had to pick up
  • my rat from the vet, a power surge broke all the light bulbs
  • in my house, Twitter released my home address, I miss the
  • numbness sometimes, I’m driving my mother to work,
  • I’m sliding in the snow, I got a speeding ticket, I went
  • snowboarding, I’m in holding, my ankle is broken,
  • is this all there is, I didn’t understand the assignment.

No one ever asked me if I liked being called Pluto

  • When Pluto was a planet, X got detention for keeping
  • their eyes open during prayer. They wondered, are all
  • grandmas named Dorothy? Their voice became a mind
  • no one else could hear.
  • When no one knew what a planet was anymore,
  • X read the Sunday comics alongside the original
  • eight. New mnemonics replaced the old:
  • They love me, they’re terrestrial. They love me,
  • they’re gaseous. They love me not, I’m an ice planet.
  • X studied childhood obesity with jellybeans asking,
  • which one is the best?
  • When Pluto was a dwarf planet, X had sex in a pajama set,
  • with the Kuiper Belt repeating yes-yes-yes-yes.
  • Children wrote misspelled letters to scientists exclaiming,
  • If there are people who live there they won’t exist.
  • Then X’s sister birthed a niece, a small impact
  • with jet black hair. They named her Lola, which means:
  • no one ever asked me if I liked being called Pluto.

Excerpt from After Being Laid Off, A Series of Rothko Paintings

  • Yes! A hamburger! A mustard grin! Ketchup smiles! Cheesing fast food!
  • A photo of your lips! Bliss becomes the lens! The picturesque emotion
  • absent from our bodies. To backward gaze. I could not stand you/// until I
  • consumed you. Five years to enter the layers. A trip — a tip — a white
  • string of amusement. Hamburger mustache. Mayonnaise. Lift off.
  • Recognize when the eaters are in peril. Recognize an abort mission.

Sarah Sala is a poet and educator who hails from Brooklyn, Michigan. Her poem “Hydrogen” was featured in the “Elements” episode of NPR’s hit show Radiolab in collaboration with Emotive Fruition. The Ghost Assembly Line, a chapbook of her selected poetry, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2016. SarahSala.com.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Live Five: Sitting On Stacy, Matte Blvck, Think X, Hendrix Celebration, Coriander

Alt-ska, dark electro-pop, tributes, and coastal rock in Solana Beach, Little Italy, Pacific Beach
Next Article

Pie pleasure at Queenstown Public House

A taste of New Zealand brings back happy memories

ATTENDANCE: A CATALOGUE:

  • my car broke down,
  • my mother became someone I didn’t recognize, I had
  • a relapse, my sister got beat up, I felt the tremendous
  • anxiety of living, do you remember me, no busses go there,
  • I had an abortion, I’m bedridden with a virus, my ex-
  • boyfriend robbed me, the nurses are sweet, I couldn’t find
  • parking, one of my animals died and the other is sick,
  • I fell asleep and didn’t wake up, my grandma is having
  • a mastectomy, my roommate is an undergrad too,
  • we’re pulling the plug on my aunt today, I had to pick up
  • my rat from the vet, a power surge broke all the light bulbs
  • in my house, Twitter released my home address, I miss the
  • numbness sometimes, I’m driving my mother to work,
  • I’m sliding in the snow, I got a speeding ticket, I went
  • snowboarding, I’m in holding, my ankle is broken,
  • is this all there is, I didn’t understand the assignment.

No one ever asked me if I liked being called Pluto

  • When Pluto was a planet, X got detention for keeping
  • their eyes open during prayer. They wondered, are all
  • grandmas named Dorothy? Their voice became a mind
  • no one else could hear.
  • When no one knew what a planet was anymore,
  • X read the Sunday comics alongside the original
  • eight. New mnemonics replaced the old:
  • They love me, they’re terrestrial. They love me,
  • they’re gaseous. They love me not, I’m an ice planet.
  • X studied childhood obesity with jellybeans asking,
  • which one is the best?
  • When Pluto was a dwarf planet, X had sex in a pajama set,
  • with the Kuiper Belt repeating yes-yes-yes-yes.
  • Children wrote misspelled letters to scientists exclaiming,
  • If there are people who live there they won’t exist.
  • Then X’s sister birthed a niece, a small impact
  • with jet black hair. They named her Lola, which means:
  • no one ever asked me if I liked being called Pluto.

Excerpt from After Being Laid Off, A Series of Rothko Paintings

  • Yes! A hamburger! A mustard grin! Ketchup smiles! Cheesing fast food!
  • A photo of your lips! Bliss becomes the lens! The picturesque emotion
  • absent from our bodies. To backward gaze. I could not stand you/// until I
  • consumed you. Five years to enter the layers. A trip — a tip — a white
  • string of amusement. Hamburger mustache. Mayonnaise. Lift off.
  • Recognize when the eaters are in peril. Recognize an abort mission.

Sarah Sala is a poet and educator who hails from Brooklyn, Michigan. Her poem “Hydrogen” was featured in the “Elements” episode of NPR’s hit show Radiolab in collaboration with Emotive Fruition. The Ghost Assembly Line, a chapbook of her selected poetry, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2016. SarahSala.com.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars

Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
Next Article

San Diego Dim Sum Tour, Warwick’s Holiday Open House

Events November 24-November 27, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader