please offer these seats to the elderly and persons with disabilities

crowded bus, i am not an enemy

on mondays my dream is wading through swamp water

waiting for dry land

my dream is tadpoles swimming down my bloodstream

carrying oxygen on their backs

i find that it’s easier to swim than to walk

my worst nightmare is the bus pulling away without me

it’s happened before

i run, cane in hand, like my little disabled life depends on it

on tuesdays my dream is having trains and streetcars

shining sparking tracks

in my little wisconsin capital

maybe it could take me up that wretched hill

no more panting, wheezing, stumbling

today i am standing at the middle doors

on an articulated rapid transit vehicle

there aren’t enough seats for everyone

so i brace myself on a pole

and wait for dry land

i met gregor samsa at a college formal

some human-sized beetle they found in prague,

in madison, he scuttles on the dance floor

six limbs, unnerving to his parents and sister

“sick outfit!” to drunk undergraduates

inspired by his transformation,

he enters the costume contest

and in spite of his transformation,

he only gets second place

mama, i’m sorry

i dreamt that my sister was writing a poetry book but all she had

was the table of contents. i told her that one called “mama, i’m

sorry” should come first. she asked me why while dogs ran wild

in the street by our house, she asked me why while timelines

converged and i saw her dead in front of me. i told her it would

be in conversation with “mama, thank you” at the end of it all.

our mama wasn’t there but the ghost of her words makes me

write poetry in my dreams.

ABOUT:

Mal Virich is a queer, non-binary, autistic, and disabled poet who tends to ruminate on self-identity, trauma, and the profound impacts of interpersonal relationships. Their debut chapbook a vivid dreaming was published in November 2024 by Bottlecap Press. Alongside writing poetry, they study English creative writing, Spanish, and Chican@/Latin@ studies. They are also a peer advisor and poetry reader for The Madison Review. Visit their author website here: https://malvirich.com/

EDITOR'S SONG PAIRING: Tora -- Beatle Juice