Chris McCreary's poem "Apophenomena" has been paired with a semitransparent cropped flightsuit from Rick Owens' 2026 "Temple" show. Made from Italian "black/milk" silk chiffon, this striking Owens garment features a reproduction of the designer's astrological birth chart, as drawn by his father John on the day of his birth (Nov. 18, 1961, 9:32 am). McCreary's poem opens with a "father's topcoat" that bears the "template" for a "temple." The architectonic topcoat, juxtaposed with a "spurious birth / certificate," instantly casts doubt over the speaker's origin. Owens' choice to reproduce his father's hand-drawn birth chart on one of his garments feels curious since he has spoken before about their "difficult relationship." From the very beginning (including the poem's title), it's apparent that readers of this poem must be attentive observers. In McCreary's poetry, no detail ever feels insignificant; even the smallest sign - a comma - demands scrutiny.
— Paul Cunningham, Editor
Apophenomena
The template for the temple we’re
building’s chalked on father's topcoat as
we teethe its soft cloth at sleeve’s
length, a wrinkle, really, in points of
articulation to be ironed or in shrinkage
better fit for armature’s assemblage
cracked & chipped : spindles, dowels,
bits of twine all mine. From the depths of
his rolltop desk, my spurious birth
certificate, reports of your poor
deportment. From one voluptuary to
another, this huffing of ambergris
straight from the brazier.
Months slump, speed up once plaster’s
cast as amuse bouche before that long
slog to the medicine cabinet made
lambent by candelabra. Amid the
intermittent rigmarole, how cleansing
our micellar waters, how bountiful our
towels even if citrus molders in the
emergency nurse’s purse. Or you're the
remote docent & I’m bedridden,
sequestered amid this ephemera. Every
comma’s a coma, your metamorphosis
into cheerful voice in an earpiece the
noisy morphia of caprice.
Chris McCreary's latest book of poems, awry, was published by White Stag in 2024. He lives in Philadelphia.
