Marcus Bales
@marcusbales.bsky.social
Not much is known about Marcus Bales except he lives and works in Cleveland, Ohio, and his poems have not been published in Poetry or The New Yorker.
Some people try to help, some people freeze
When crisis strikes, and Donald Trump has showed
Emphatically today which one of these
He is, there, staring off in frozen mode.
When crisis strikes, and Donald Trump has showed
Emphatically today which one of these
He is, there, staring off in frozen mode.
November 7, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Some people try to help, some people freeze
When crisis strikes, and Donald Trump has showed
Emphatically today which one of these
He is, there, staring off in frozen mode.
When crisis strikes, and Donald Trump has showed
Emphatically today which one of these
He is, there, staring off in frozen mode.
By Their Red Hats Shall You Know'em
She's hard and vaguely prejudicial,
As hollow as she's artificial,
Outside my trumpie neighbor's home.
She looks distinctly second-class
My dog growls at her when we pass
And so I call her "Kristi Gnome".
She's hard and vaguely prejudicial,
As hollow as she's artificial,
Outside my trumpie neighbor's home.
She looks distinctly second-class
My dog growls at her when we pass
And so I call her "Kristi Gnome".
June 19, 2025 at 2:38 PM
By Their Red Hats Shall You Know'em
She's hard and vaguely prejudicial,
As hollow as she's artificial,
Outside my trumpie neighbor's home.
She looks distinctly second-class
My dog growls at her when we pass
And so I call her "Kristi Gnome".
She's hard and vaguely prejudicial,
As hollow as she's artificial,
Outside my trumpie neighbor's home.
She looks distinctly second-class
My dog growls at her when we pass
And so I call her "Kristi Gnome".
1651
A very smart move on the Vatican's part
To make an American Pope's debut --
Not only a guy with a pastoral heart
But also avoiding Trump's tariffs, too.
A very smart move on the Vatican's part
To make an American Pope's debut --
Not only a guy with a pastoral heart
But also avoiding Trump's tariffs, too.
May 8, 2025 at 11:40 PM
1651
A very smart move on the Vatican's part
To make an American Pope's debut --
Not only a guy with a pastoral heart
But also avoiding Trump's tariffs, too.
A very smart move on the Vatican's part
To make an American Pope's debut --
Not only a guy with a pastoral heart
But also avoiding Trump's tariffs, too.
1652
Hector Diaz says a Chicago Pope
implies an MLA Pope and, he jests,
An APA Pope, too. And who can cope
With what a Kate Turabian Pope suggests.
Hector Diaz says a Chicago Pope
implies an MLA Pope and, he jests,
An APA Pope, too. And who can cope
With what a Kate Turabian Pope suggests.
May 8, 2025 at 11:40 PM
1652
Hector Diaz says a Chicago Pope
implies an MLA Pope and, he jests,
An APA Pope, too. And who can cope
With what a Kate Turabian Pope suggests.
Hector Diaz says a Chicago Pope
implies an MLA Pope and, he jests,
An APA Pope, too. And who can cope
With what a Kate Turabian Pope suggests.
"These are kids who will never pay taxes," he said
In starting off his foul eugenicist screed
Of reasons he thinks some are better dead --
Yeah, well, at least he didn't bury the lede.
In starting off his foul eugenicist screed
Of reasons he thinks some are better dead --
Yeah, well, at least he didn't bury the lede.
April 17, 2025 at 10:04 PM
"These are kids who will never pay taxes," he said
In starting off his foul eugenicist screed
Of reasons he thinks some are better dead --
Yeah, well, at least he didn't bury the lede.
In starting off his foul eugenicist screed
Of reasons he thinks some are better dead --
Yeah, well, at least he didn't bury the lede.
1602
The square root of a hundred forty-four
Is noon or midnight, perfect in this mix,
But also that it's time to drink some more
At fifty-five divided by five minus six.
The square root of a hundred forty-four
Is noon or midnight, perfect in this mix,
But also that it's time to drink some more
At fifty-five divided by five minus six.
February 16, 2025 at 4:56 PM
1602
The square root of a hundred forty-four
Is noon or midnight, perfect in this mix,
But also that it's time to drink some more
At fifty-five divided by five minus six.
The square root of a hundred forty-four
Is noon or midnight, perfect in this mix,
But also that it's time to drink some more
At fifty-five divided by five minus six.
Instead of executive orders' too-trumpian labors
To keep us from terror attacks in the sixes and twelves,
Why can't he protect us from terrorist white Christian neighbors
Since that's where the danger exists: we are killing ourselves.
To keep us from terror attacks in the sixes and twelves,
Why can't he protect us from terrorist white Christian neighbors
Since that's where the danger exists: we are killing ourselves.
January 29, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Instead of executive orders' too-trumpian labors
To keep us from terror attacks in the sixes and twelves,
Why can't he protect us from terrorist white Christian neighbors
Since that's where the danger exists: we are killing ourselves.
To keep us from terror attacks in the sixes and twelves,
Why can't he protect us from terrorist white Christian neighbors
Since that's where the danger exists: we are killing ourselves.
1022
An egg tumbled out of the carton and cracked on the floor
We stopped and we all pulled our carts to the side of the aisle
The cops took our statements of what we had seen just before
The insurance adjuster's the only one able to smile.
An egg tumbled out of the carton and cracked on the floor
We stopped and we all pulled our carts to the side of the aisle
The cops took our statements of what we had seen just before
The insurance adjuster's the only one able to smile.
January 26, 2025 at 1:08 PM
1022
An egg tumbled out of the carton and cracked on the floor
We stopped and we all pulled our carts to the side of the aisle
The cops took our statements of what we had seen just before
The insurance adjuster's the only one able to smile.
An egg tumbled out of the carton and cracked on the floor
We stopped and we all pulled our carts to the side of the aisle
The cops took our statements of what we had seen just before
The insurance adjuster's the only one able to smile.
Changing names on maps is dumb -- although
If we do change the name at all then we
Should change it from the Gulf of Mexico
To Gulf of Fragile Masculinity.
If we do change the name at all then we
Should change it from the Gulf of Mexico
To Gulf of Fragile Masculinity.
January 26, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Changing names on maps is dumb -- although
If we do change the name at all then we
Should change it from the Gulf of Mexico
To Gulf of Fragile Masculinity.
If we do change the name at all then we
Should change it from the Gulf of Mexico
To Gulf of Fragile Masculinity.
Changing names on maps is dumb -- although
If we do change the name at all then we
Should change it from the Gulf of Mexico
To Gulf of Fragile Masculinity.
If we do change the name at all then we
Should change it from the Gulf of Mexico
To Gulf of Fragile Masculinity.
January 26, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Changing names on maps is dumb -- although
If we do change the name at all then we
Should change it from the Gulf of Mexico
To Gulf of Fragile Masculinity.
If we do change the name at all then we
Should change it from the Gulf of Mexico
To Gulf of Fragile Masculinity.
Mutatis mutandis, young
Timothée Chalamet
Sings Dylan's songs as he
Mumbles the rest,
Brilliantly playing the
Role of a lifetime. Still,
Characteristically,
Zimmerman's best.
Timothée Chalamet
Sings Dylan's songs as he
Mumbles the rest,
Brilliantly playing the
Role of a lifetime. Still,
Characteristically,
Zimmerman's best.
December 31, 2024 at 4:02 PM
Mutatis mutandis, young
Timothée Chalamet
Sings Dylan's songs as he
Mumbles the rest,
Brilliantly playing the
Role of a lifetime. Still,
Characteristically,
Zimmerman's best.
Timothée Chalamet
Sings Dylan's songs as he
Mumbles the rest,
Brilliantly playing the
Role of a lifetime. Still,
Characteristically,
Zimmerman's best.
1620
Christmas Adam comes before
Christmas Eve. The great divide
Is while she hears his happy snore
She's sticky and unsatisfied.
Christmas Adam comes before
Christmas Eve. The great divide
Is while she hears his happy snore
She's sticky and unsatisfied.
December 28, 2024 at 9:13 PM
1620
Christmas Adam comes before
Christmas Eve. The great divide
Is while she hears his happy snore
She's sticky and unsatisfied.
Christmas Adam comes before
Christmas Eve. The great divide
Is while she hears his happy snore
She's sticky and unsatisfied.
1610
I had a friend at school who was Egyptian.
She'd never heard of Stonehenge’s mystique.
I showed her. All I got was her description
“That little thing? Your ancestors were weak."
I had a friend at school who was Egyptian.
She'd never heard of Stonehenge’s mystique.
I showed her. All I got was her description
“That little thing? Your ancestors were weak."
December 26, 2024 at 8:49 PM
1610
I had a friend at school who was Egyptian.
She'd never heard of Stonehenge’s mystique.
I showed her. All I got was her description
“That little thing? Your ancestors were weak."
I had a friend at school who was Egyptian.
She'd never heard of Stonehenge’s mystique.
I showed her. All I got was her description
“That little thing? Your ancestors were weak."
1587
You'll never, the old saying is, go broke
By underestimating what you've heard
About your customers-- or, if they're woke,
Appealing to their sense of the absurd.
You'll never, the old saying is, go broke
By underestimating what you've heard
About your customers-- or, if they're woke,
Appealing to their sense of the absurd.
December 1, 2024 at 12:47 PM
1587
You'll never, the old saying is, go broke
By underestimating what you've heard
About your customers-- or, if they're woke,
Appealing to their sense of the absurd.
You'll never, the old saying is, go broke
By underestimating what you've heard
About your customers-- or, if they're woke,
Appealing to their sense of the absurd.