In the dying light of the final star,there will be breakfast at the lasttruck stop between here and oblivion,a pair of quasars sunny side up,a bundle of flimsy bacon and a bottleof Jack Daniels. Spock can’t helpbut admire that hue and oozeof yolk, that way an egg is allthings—an embryo, a planet, a goopof sunshine with a prehistoric boband quiver for the fork. Outside,the truckers shake their headsat the loads that won’t ever reachtheir destinations: dilithium crystalsburned out for warp drives, wall clockswith hands stuck forever at ten and two,cans of chili con carne and cling peaches,their expiration dates now irrelevant.The Vulcan takes a slug of whiskeyas he observes Slash preparing to eata waffle, pouring syrup into every crevicewithout spilling any onto the plate.Just eat it, Spock says. At any momentwe could tumble ass over ashes, collapseback into that cosmic dust that spawnedus in the vacuum. Slash takes a first biteand wipes a dribble of syrup from his chinon his sleeve. That’s rock and roll, he sayswith his mouth full. Spock cannot argue logicfor the supernova, reason for catastrophe,appetite for the eater of worlds.
Slash and Mr. Spock Sitting in the Waffle House at the End Of The Universe
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- June 26, 2024
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“Slash and Mr. Spock Sitting at the Waffle House at the End of the Universe” from SLASH/SLASH: by Amorak Huey and W. Todd Kaneko.
Published by Diode Editions in June 2021.
Copyright © 2021 by Amorak Huey and W. Todd Kaneko.
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission.
Amorak Huey has published four poetry collections, including Dad Jokes from Late in the Patriarchy (Sundress Publications, 2021); Boom Box (Sundress Publications, 2019); Seducing the Asparagus Queen (Cloudbank Books, 2018), winner of the Vern Rutsala Poetry Prize; and Ha Ha Ha Thump (Sundress Publications, 2015). He has also published three poetry chapbooks: SLASH / SLASH (Diode Editions, 2021); The Insomniac Circus (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2014); and A Map of the Farm Three Miles from the End of Happy Hollow Road (Porkbelly Press, 2016). Amorak is co-author with W. Todd Kaneko of the textbook Poetry: A Writers’ Guide and Anthology, published by Bloomsbury Academic in January 2018.
W. Todd Kaneko is the author of the poetry books This is How the Bone Sings (Black Lawrence Press 2020) and The Dead Wrestler Elegies, Championship Edition (New Michigan Press 2023). He is co-author with Amorak Huey of Poetry: A Writers’ Guide and Anthology (Bloomsbury Academic 2018), and Slash / Slash, winner of the 2020 Diode Editions Chapbook Prize. He teaches creative writing at Grand Valley State University and lives with his family in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“Amorak Huey and W. Todd Kaneko create lightning / a guitar smashing on stage over and over again / the reverberations on and off the page / that leave you begging for more / but you always get more / of course / plus the adrenaline rush built through dual personas / all reaching desire in this poetry of rock and roll and this rock and roll that is poetry. Slash / Slash is a tremendous collection that seduces in form—every feeling is felt in this jungle—this universe of myth-making and the most artistic brushstrokes. These are poems of heart. Reader, take this jump and let’s go wild wild wild.”
—Dorothy Chan, author of Revenge of the Asian Woman
“W. Todd Kaneko and Amorak Huey’s brilliant collaborative chapbook Slash / Slash is a wonderful celebration of a pop culture icon tinged with wistful nostalgia for the seventies and eighties. If you're a fan not only of Guns N’ Roses’ famous guitarist but also of sci-fi, there are plenty of insider references to Star Wars, Star Trek, and Lord of the Rings to entertain and enlighten.”
—Jeannine Hall Gailey, author of Field Guide to the End of the World
“Slash / Slash is a conversation between two longhairs, post-arena, lingering atmosphere of concert mingling with semi-audible mumble in hearing-loss haze. If Slash hadn’t already turned himself from Saul Hudson into a myth, Amorak Huey and W. Todd Kaneko would have. Their poems reveal the insight that a rock star is the ideal accessory for any emotion or physical space, seamlessly moving in and out of novels, board games, art galleries, and landmarks without letting the ever-lengthening ash of Marlboro fall. Huey and Kaneko are master craftsmen, putting a level of care into each word the way a luthier custom-makes a guitar to sustain that last power chord long after the band has hit the afterparty.”
—Daniel M. Shapiro, author of (This Is Not A) Mixtape for the End of the World
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