“Netflix Closed Captioning,” a poem for Bad Survivalist by Jeffrey Hecker

Netflix Closed Captioning

[Rapid downbeat funky relaxed happy soulful witchy jazz

music starts playing] [Wurlitzer muffles sobs] [Cadavers

gurgle blow bubbles that suck and pop] [Ceiling fan blade

claps like elephant seal] [Upbeat demented ska funeral music

stops playing] [Flava Flav’s Unga Bunga Bunga remix

starts playing] [Dime drops into coin-operated dryer not enough

to activate spin] [All laughing no one believes the joke is funny]

[Rising choir fire machine guns admire tired risen Christ]

[Geologist hammers dent teapot offscreen] [Whoosh

of bobsled and doorbell ding dong at same time] [Leaves rustle

wind freezes snow melts finches hatch a final fifth season on earth]

Jeffrey Hecker is the author of Rumble Seat (San Francisco Bay Press, 2011) and the chapbooks Hornbook (Horse Less Press, 2012), Instructions for the Orgy (Sunnyoutside Press, 2013), Before He Let Them Guide Sleigh (ShirtPocket Press, 2013), and Ark Aft (The Magnificent Field, 2020). Recent work has appeared in Posit, The Laurel Review, LEVELER, BOAAT, Dream Pop Journal, and DELUGE. A graduate of Old Dominion University, he’s a fourth-generation Hawaiian American and he currently resides in Norfolk, Virginia, where he teaches at The Muse Writers Center. He recently joined the staff of Quarterly West.

Image: youtube.com

Check out HFR’s book catalog, publicity list, submission manager, and buy merch from our Spring store. Follow us on Instagram and YouTube. Disclosure: HFR is an affiliate of Bookshop.org and we will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Sales from Bookshop.org help support independent bookstores and small presses.