Talan Memmott is a digital writer/artist/theorist. Memmott has taught and been a researcher in digital art, digital design, electronic writing, new media studies, and digital culture at University of California Santa Cruz; University of Bergen; Blekinge Institute of Technology in Karlskrona, Sweden; California State University Monterey Bay; the Georgia Institute of Technology; University of Colorado Boulder; and the Rhode Island School of Design. He is currently Assistant Professor of Creative Digital Media at Winona State University.
***
CHEMTRAILS AND CHAMPAGNE
begin every morning with
filament smart dust nanotechnology and
a cultural espionage plan orchestrated by
some deer or critters making noises
With all that money and cultural influence at stake
researchers weren’t so sure about bubbly
or the nutrition in dairy milk
captured in parks around London
Despite the turf war over
a huge mushroom, rising three to four meters
the fleck of aluminum wing and body
makes strategic sense to funnel their focus
there is no sex in the champagne room
but only after the eruption of methane mixed with oxygen
***
RUBBER BOOTS MAKE FANTASTIC HOMES FOR UNICORNS
Looking into a crystal ball
they cast off their dusty garb and enter
a Sailor Moon-themed craft swap
with handcrafted Elf Ears
Slide these babies on and you will
maintain a businesslike lack of expression
trying to kiss the outside of your elbow
sprawled about exhaustedly
walking through spiky, stinging foliage
into bins with construction paper
the rock stars of the derby world
coveted fragrance samples
I sought medical attention
to fill up the pinata
***
HONEST ABE AT DAIRY QUEEN
Let's not forget about the trips
to spot rare Bald Eagles along
the roads in mapping software and
The world's first soft-serve machine
spreading a little happiness
in its many different flavored guises
the simplest things like cookies and milk
justify our existence
and so implosion should be just
for the giants of Route 66
with the parts open for shredding thus
and for that, I sincerely apologize
This striking young man earned his way
to catch the trained piggie show
***
KATY PERRY WILL EAT YOUR BABY
she walked the red carpet
to wrap her mind around
the latest kardashian posts
tweeted in all caps
and there were thoughts
of rubik’s cubes, cigars, and chain
or the flesh-and-blood influence of
a step-counting armband
a spoonful of pasta in her mouth
she attended a charity gala
singing a reworked version of
the mcdonald’s “i’m lovin’ it” tune
and i kinda fell off the bandwagon
when the talking was over
***
VOLTAIRE’S POODLE
in a world devised under perverse intentions
we provide an environment where
humdrum breakfast sausage is replaced by
a water spaniel that is good for allergies
and it will daily become worse
for 10 to 15 seconds, so
the duck foie gras and charcuterie
occur behind closed doors
Dismissed today as fodder for
the many curiosities of American education
screaming children and car horn blasts
kiss endlessly almost everywhere
we waddle around the Marais, and end up
appearing in books, magazines, newspapers
***
ALL TOLKIEN ELVES ARE IMPOSTORS
the day of their begetting is remembered, not
for role-playing games in
the short time that we got to know
a never-published sequel
the modern world, however, knows
of a smoky pub
and seems to have nothing in common with
blue human girls with tentacles
the only proof i have of this is
a hitherto vain attempt to see
the victim of a glamourbomb
greeted by a crowd of humanoids
soon you will be unable to
bake cookies in hollow trees