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JOINT
Wish, Wonder - McKenzie Drake. 2021. Glazed ceramic. Installed 42” x 11” x 2”. Photo courtesy of Mark Geil.
Things Fall Off
Things fall off and roll under other things.
And sometimes they break when you're almost done.
And then you're late but you have to go back.
And people think they're being so clever.
And the cords are tangled just out of reach.
And what should we do with our precious time?
And what would we do without Novocaine?
Maybe eat with our hands, much too loudly.
Maybe ask our frenemies for more money.
Maybe take the extra party favor.
Maybe flip the switches and hitch the latches.
And itemize what we can't leave behind.
And scream in tunnels on the sleeper train.
John Reed is the author of three novels, one book of poetry, two non-fiction illustrated projects, one project of poetry/theater, and one book of history/narrative non-fiction; published in (selected) Artforum, Art in America, the Believer, the PEN Poetry Series, Gawker, Slate, the Paris Review, the Times Literary Supplement, Vice, The New York Times, Harpers; anthologized in (selected) Best American Essays; current faculty at The New School University MFA in Creative Writing. More at: easyreeder.com
Born and raised in North Carolina, McKenzie Drake is no foreigner to sweet tea and the all-
inclusive “y’all.” As an artist and administrator, Drake has experience working in museum and professional studio settings, and is the current assistant curator of public programs and community engagement at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, MS. Prior to this position, Drake completed the William R. Hollingsworth Fellowship at the Mississippi Museum of Art, and gained additional experience working at the Digital Resource Center at Rhodes College, Flicker Street Studio, and as an assistant for artists Erin Harmon and Nancy Cheairs. She earned a BA in art and political science from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN, where she completed the Ruka Civic Engagement Fellowship and was awarded the Buckman Fellowship to study abroad at the University School of London's Slade School of Fine Art in London, England. Her work has been shown in local arts venues in Tennessee and Mississippi and is featured in the Rhodes College permanent collection. She lives and continues to practice her art in Jackson, MS.