Welcome to “Poetry at The Arts Fuse.” A new poem every Thursday.

Most Hated Celebs—Exposed!

In one line of the Bhakti sutras
it is written that union with the god
can be achieved through hatred.

Apparently, these higher beings
are flattered
you take them so seriously.

It’s like in a rom com
where a pair of New York professionals
bicker intensely.
A knowing stranger on the subway typically mutters,
“Oh, a get room already.”

I was most successful at the jobs
I hated
and I hated them all.

Which is why I stand before you now
proof of both
the glories of capitalism
and the truth
of dialectical materialism.

On the talk show
the beautiful celebrities
read mean tweets about themselves
with knowing smiles.
These are the smiles of love.

Society’s hatred of the poem
and its non-money-making ways
means the poem will always be with it—
the more worthless the better.
It offers relief
when the stock market reaches the kind of frenzy
that gives investors nose bleeds.

They are now rich enough to quit working,
to move over to make a space for someone else
but they need a reason.
The poem is that reason.
They must read it or die.

Jerome Sala’s latest book is How Much? New and Selected Poems (NYQ Books). Other books include cult classics such as Corporations Are People, Too! (NYQ Books), The Cheapskates (Lunar Chandelier), and Look Slimmer Instantly (Soft Skull). Widely published, his work appears in Pathetic Literature (Grove Atlantic) and two editions of Best American Poetry (Scribners). He lives in New York City with his spouse, poet Elaine Equi.

Note: Hey poets! We seek submissions of excellent poetry from across the length and breadth of contemporary poetics. See submission guidelines here. The arbiter of the feature is the magazine’s poetry editor, John Mulrooney.

— Arts Fuse editor Bill Marx