Ben Kline
@benkline.bsky.social
Writer, tall, clumsy, wired, Gemini.
IT WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE from Variant Lit.
TWANG from ELJ Editions.
STIFF WRIST from 14 Poems.
Some of my work: https://benklineonline.wordpress.com/publications/
Podcaster at https://www.youtube.com/@mlvcpodcast
IT WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE from Variant Lit.
TWANG from ELJ Editions.
STIFF WRIST from 14 Poems.
Some of my work: https://benklineonline.wordpress.com/publications/
Podcaster at https://www.youtube.com/@mlvcpodcast
Said second volume spends a lot of time on miscreant personas inspired by good ole Ironton. Such as these poems featuring a sex worker, a provocateur, and a cruising spot collective.
New work, from my summer stint of working on Twang's second volume.
villaineralit.com/2025/12/19/t...
villaineralit.com/2025/12/19/t...
Three Poems by Ben Kline
I liked to come quietly, the whole house asleep. I enjoyed it under my pillow, the fan and the cricket choir, focused on transcendence instead of a smile for cash, another grin in tractor trailer s…
villaineralit.com
December 19, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Said second volume spends a lot of time on miscreant personas inspired by good ole Ironton. Such as these poems featuring a sex worker, a provocateur, and a cruising spot collective.
Every person ever standing behind T666p at these press things looks like a hostage. Even though they're willing participants.
December 19, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Every person ever standing behind T666p at these press things looks like a hostage. Even though they're willing participants.
To me, this thread demonstrates how being a digital native can ruin a brain. That, and, yet again, religion.
December 19, 2025 at 7:53 PM
To me, this thread demonstrates how being a digital native can ruin a brain. That, and, yet again, religion.
New work, from my summer stint of working on Twang's second volume.
villaineralit.com/2025/12/19/t...
villaineralit.com/2025/12/19/t...
Three Poems by Ben Kline
I liked to come quietly, the whole house asleep. I enjoyed it under my pillow, the fan and the cricket choir, focused on transcendence instead of a smile for cash, another grin in tractor trailer s…
villaineralit.com
December 19, 2025 at 4:31 PM
New work, from my summer stint of working on Twang's second volume.
villaineralit.com/2025/12/19/t...
villaineralit.com/2025/12/19/t...
Reposted by Ben Kline
I'm looking forward to 2029 when we remove and destroy every aspect of Trump's name on federal property like US forces taking down everything with Saddam Hussein on it.
That's the bare minimum any Dem should do. Leave no trace of his existence.
That's the bare minimum any Dem should do. Leave no trace of his existence.
December 19, 2025 at 4:19 PM
I'm looking forward to 2029 when we remove and destroy every aspect of Trump's name on federal property like US forces taking down everything with Saddam Hussein on it.
That's the bare minimum any Dem should do. Leave no trace of his existence.
That's the bare minimum any Dem should do. Leave no trace of his existence.
Reposted by Ben Kline
Hello, at the University of Minnesota, we're hiring a visiting creative nonfiction writer for the next 2-3 years to teach a 1-1 (one grad class, one undergrad class) and potentially sit on some MFA thesis committees. This job will give you time to write you next book: hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/371...
December 19, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Hello, at the University of Minnesota, we're hiring a visiting creative nonfiction writer for the next 2-3 years to teach a 1-1 (one grad class, one undergrad class) and potentially sit on some MFA thesis committees. This job will give you time to write you next book: hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/371...
I'm reading submissions and have already sent a few poems forward! But we need more! MORE! (Picture Breathless Mahoney in her silver gown reading poems and tossing them around Club Ritz!)
www.driftwoodpress.com/poemcontest
www.driftwoodpress.com/poemcontest
Driftwood Press | Poem Contest
Driftwood Press now offers poetry contests!
www.driftwoodpress.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:42 PM
I'm reading submissions and have already sent a few poems forward! But we need more! MORE! (Picture Breathless Mahoney in her silver gown reading poems and tossing them around Club Ritz!)
www.driftwoodpress.com/poemcontest
www.driftwoodpress.com/poemcontest
Can't catch me with this silliness. These are NOT serious people.
I'd rather spend the hour watching cats leap from cucumbers on YouTube.
I'd rather spend the hour watching cats leap from cucumbers on YouTube.
Americans are tired of what coastal elites have been shoving down their throats, so I think elevating fresh voices like the vice president, the head of one of the most valuable companies on the planet, a Times columnist, and a Jeffrey Epstein associate who teaches at Harvard is a risk worth taking.
Bari Weiss’ Next CBS News Move: Town Halls With JD Vance, Sam Altman and Debates About God and Feminism
The news division is also planning a town hall with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in the 'Things That Matter' series, with Bank of America lined up as a sponsor.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Can't catch me with this silliness. These are NOT serious people.
I'd rather spend the hour watching cats leap from cucumbers on YouTube.
I'd rather spend the hour watching cats leap from cucumbers on YouTube.
The conclusion I reach on every story about cuts to or consolidation of academic programs is how little money any of it is saving compared to the costs of most athletic programs and nonsense campaigns. Worse, if they wanted to, they could use concealed parking revenues to pay for all of it. If they
December 18, 2025 at 2:13 AM
The conclusion I reach on every story about cuts to or consolidation of academic programs is how little money any of it is saving compared to the costs of most athletic programs and nonsense campaigns. Worse, if they wanted to, they could use concealed parking revenues to pay for all of it. If they
Reposted by Ben Kline
This Publishers Weekly article about protests at the Poetry Foundation, including layoffs & changes in PF programming, is so strange. Because this shift is so important to poets, to readers, & to the field, here's a 🧵 about how we got here:
tinyurl.com/326xy2tm
tinyurl.com/326xy2tm
Poetry Foundation Staff Protest Program Cuts, Job Loss
Employees at the foundation say the decision of senior leadership to eliminate public programs, announced earlier this month, goes against the organization’s mission, and are circulating a petition to...
www.publishersweekly.com
December 17, 2025 at 3:40 PM
This Publishers Weekly article about protests at the Poetry Foundation, including layoffs & changes in PF programming, is so strange. Because this shift is so important to poets, to readers, & to the field, here's a 🧵 about how we got here:
tinyurl.com/326xy2tm
tinyurl.com/326xy2tm
Join us Sunday night at 9PM EST as we wrap up another year of Her Madgesty (she is back in London these days!) and celebrate all the joy she brings us.
This Sunday, December 21st at 9pm NYC time MLVC goes Live on YouTube for our season 7 finale and annual Holiday Spectacular! See you then! #holidaytraditions #seasonfinale #mlvcpodcast
December 16, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Join us Sunday night at 9PM EST as we wrap up another year of Her Madgesty (she is back in London these days!) and celebrate all the joy she brings us.
Reposted by Ben Kline
"This poet does speak to the precarity of it all: writing, and loving, and living," our host Maggie Smith shares in today's episode of The Slowdown, number 1412.
Read "Ledge (ars poetica) (love poem) (true story)" by @amorak.bsky.social: bit.ly/4aQfUrK
Read "Ledge (ars poetica) (love poem) (true story)" by @amorak.bsky.social: bit.ly/4aQfUrK
December 15, 2025 at 7:00 PM
"This poet does speak to the precarity of it all: writing, and loving, and living," our host Maggie Smith shares in today's episode of The Slowdown, number 1412.
Read "Ledge (ars poetica) (love poem) (true story)" by @amorak.bsky.social: bit.ly/4aQfUrK
Read "Ledge (ars poetica) (love poem) (true story)" by @amorak.bsky.social: bit.ly/4aQfUrK
Yglesias been on the grift for years.
But MOST people beyond the hardcore nihilistic MAGA types can still smell when something is just not right.
But MOST people beyond the hardcore nihilistic MAGA types can still smell when something is just not right.
Earlier this year, Matt Yglesias and Hakeem Jeffries urged progressives to shut up about immigration and Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Yglesias said "bad groups" were pushing Dems left on immigration and would help Trump's numbers.
How did they get this so wrong? www.gelliottmorris.com/p/the-cost-o...
How did they get this so wrong? www.gelliottmorris.com/p/the-cost-o...
The cost of playing defense on immigration
What Matt Yglesias, Hakeem Jeffries, and Keir Starmer got wrong about the politics of immigration
www.gelliottmorris.com
December 16, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Yglesias been on the grift for years.
But MOST people beyond the hardcore nihilistic MAGA types can still smell when something is just not right.
But MOST people beyond the hardcore nihilistic MAGA types can still smell when something is just not right.
I have new work debuting later this week and new collaborative work debuting next week. Unexpected, as I've been writing, and submitting, but mostly living in rejection city as the new project overtakes me creatively and I set the old one aside for now.
December 16, 2025 at 1:21 PM
I have new work debuting later this week and new collaborative work debuting next week. Unexpected, as I've been writing, and submitting, but mostly living in rejection city as the new project overtakes me creatively and I set the old one aside for now.
Another reminder - b/c this is VANITY FAIR after all - that this bunch just wants to be popular, well-liked and famous above all else.
www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...
www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...
Susie Wiles Talks About The First Year of Trump’s Second Term (Part 1 of 2)
In the first half of ‘Vanity Fair’’s interview with Susie Wiles, the chief of staff discusses Elon Musk’s DOGE disaster, the FBI’s “incredible job” investigating January 6, and how Trump once berated ...
www.vanityfair.com
December 16, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Another reminder - b/c this is VANITY FAIR after all - that this bunch just wants to be popular, well-liked and famous above all else.
www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...
www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...
Every time I hear this argument I think "oh you want to cheat and steal."
Bessent: "These 2008, 2009, 2010 financial rules were too tight. They hamstrung the American financial system. It was time for a change ... we have to take the financial system out of this straitjacket ... the regulated system is too constrained."
December 16, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Every time I hear this argument I think "oh you want to cheat and steal."
I find the discourse on "Heated Rivalry" and its portrayal of sex fascinating. Not because I have an opinion one way or another on the whole who-wrote-it, who's-it-for, who's-making-it stuff.
Because when I watched the first 3 episodes, I was struck by how it's portrayal of gay sex felt mostly
Because when I watched the first 3 episodes, I was struck by how it's portrayal of gay sex felt mostly
December 15, 2025 at 6:58 PM
I find the discourse on "Heated Rivalry" and its portrayal of sex fascinating. Not because I have an opinion one way or another on the whole who-wrote-it, who's-it-for, who's-making-it stuff.
Because when I watched the first 3 episodes, I was struck by how it's portrayal of gay sex felt mostly
Because when I watched the first 3 episodes, I was struck by how it's portrayal of gay sex felt mostly
This evening's writing time soundtrack is R.E.M.'s 1992 masterpiece AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE.
December 12, 2025 at 12:42 AM
This evening's writing time soundtrack is R.E.M.'s 1992 masterpiece AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE.
Reposted by Ben Kline
New poem! Thank you @driftwoodpress.bsky.social
December 11, 2025 at 5:15 PM
New poem! Thank you @driftwoodpress.bsky.social
This might be my new favorite evidence that AI is complete garbage.
An absolute horrific nightmare of two AI bots caught in a loop with each other is the perfect example of the total nothingness of AI “brains”.
December 9, 2025 at 10:16 PM
This might be my new favorite evidence that AI is complete garbage.
Reposted by Ben Kline
An ICE officer from Cincinnati is being held without bond on domestic violence charges of felonious assault and strangulation. Cops have been called to his house 22 times in the past year and a half.
These are the scum terrorizing our cities.
www.cincinnati.com/story/news/c...
These are the scum terrorizing our cities.
www.cincinnati.com/story/news/c...
ICE agent arrested, held on ‘no bond’ order at prosecutor’s request
Samuel Saxon is charged with felonious assault, strangulation and domestic violence.He pleaded not guilty to all counts.
www.cincinnati.com
December 9, 2025 at 8:24 PM
An ICE officer from Cincinnati is being held without bond on domestic violence charges of felonious assault and strangulation. Cops have been called to his house 22 times in the past year and a half.
These are the scum terrorizing our cities.
www.cincinnati.com/story/news/c...
These are the scum terrorizing our cities.
www.cincinnati.com/story/news/c...
Reposted by Ben Kline
Friends, join me in Baltimore for A Very Gay Literary (Happy) Hour on March 6, 5-7 pm, at Vinyl + Pages! This year, I’m partnering with @jacklegpress.bsky.social & Anhinga Press to make the magic happen.
A Very Gay Literary Hour
Join us for laughs, stories, and queer vibes at A Very Gay Literary Hour—books never felt this fabulous!
www.eventbrite.com
December 8, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Friends, join me in Baltimore for A Very Gay Literary (Happy) Hour on March 6, 5-7 pm, at Vinyl + Pages! This year, I’m partnering with @jacklegpress.bsky.social & Anhinga Press to make the magic happen.
tl:dr - this is why we need AI legislation. They're over here making porn from images people have been posting online "for free" over the past 25+ years. All those TOUs we didn't read about copyright of a posted image...bullsh*t coverage for garbage like this.
www.wired.com/story/huge-t...
www.wired.com/story/huge-t...
Huge Trove of Nude Images Leaked by AI Image Generator Startup’s Exposed Database
An AI image generator startup’s database was left accessible to the open internet, revealing more than 1 million images and videos, including photos of real people who had been “nudified.”
www.wired.com
December 8, 2025 at 2:21 PM
tl:dr - this is why we need AI legislation. They're over here making porn from images people have been posting online "for free" over the past 25+ years. All those TOUs we didn't read about copyright of a posted image...bullsh*t coverage for garbage like this.
www.wired.com/story/huge-t...
www.wired.com/story/huge-t...
Because poetry is weird word music and most music is math and AL is merely super fast, sketchy math
December 7, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Because poetry is weird word music and most music is math and AL is merely super fast, sketchy math