Pure Pleasure

Abstract

Pure Pleasure Taylor Zhang (bio) Keywords Taylor, Zhang, rotisserie chickens, White Claw, cigarettes, New York City Rotisserie chickens tied uppre-chop: my skin melted, stuck,grease dripping on the floor.'I'll take an iced water with a lemon' Upstairs: crushed powder for my tongueand only warm tap for the rinse cycle. Quick!Fabric softener, four prunes, two scoopsof peanut butter powder—90% less fat. No cigarettes for a week.Who was it who confessed,'I prefer desire to pleasure'? On West End, A/C units run all night, fullblast, cold air slicing into my shoulder.Downstairs: flowers in a cut crystal vase,hand sanitizer, broken glass on the curb. One case of White Claw—variety pack—and I remember: it was Edouard Lévé.Also Edouard Lévé:'I am unacquainted with hunger.' Now, the pigeons gather, cooingtheir swan song, pooling aroundthe metal cans at my feet, their bodiesbegging for crumbs I will not give them. It is indecent, this way we live. Still, one Newport to celebrate: [End Page 332] Taylor Zhang taylor zhang is a teaching fellow at Columbia University, where she recently finished coursework for her MFA. She runs a small Risograph press (Choo Choo Press) that publishes literary zines and chapbooks with an emphasis on queerness, nostalgia, obsession, and states of liminality. Originally from Jackson, Mississippi, she lives and works in Brooklyn. Copyright © 2021 The Massachusetts Review, Inc.