A List of My Symptoms, by Ellen Welcker

Ellen Welcker’s books are Ram Hands (Scablands Books, 2016) and The
Botanical Garden (2009 Astrophil Poetry Prize, Astrophil Press, 2010). She is
a recipient of a 2016 GAP grant from Artist Trust, for The Pink Tablet; a chapbook
of these poems was published by Fact-Simile Books in 2018. She lives in Spokane, WA.

About the poem:
“A List of My Symptoms” came out of the act of observing and documenting the
bumper sticker-style part of my culture which seems to mostly say “FU to anyone
not me.” It weighs on a person! It feels good to observe it growing collectively more
and more ridiculous, though it’s undeniably sickening, as well.