Shark Gang
I’m currently
Lost in the woods
On Long Island,
The section of New York
Where I was raised,
And was a place that
I used to hate,
And view with sparks of
Teen angst,
And was desperate to claw
Out of it.
Now however
I love it;
My family is here:
These three people
Whom I’m currently lost with—
Dphanty,
Wean Shite,
And Mally Mooks—
I’ve known for years,
And trust more than anybody else in
The universe,
Aside from Baylee and Zach.
My grandpa is here;
I live with him;
I’m watching him age in real time,
His memory is becoming quite spotty,
But he’s still the same lovable
Father figure who raised me,
Who still has the same smile,
The same outlook on life,
And the same ability to
Always tell a great story.
I wish to be there
For him and
Take care of him
And my Grandma who is
Holed up in a
Florida apartment
Complex,
Where most nights she says,
“A lot of the times me scared someone
Will come fi rob me at night. It gets real
Lonely down here for me
When I’m away from you guys.”
I want to shine a
Light to Long Island,
Nothing ever really comes
Out of here,
Most escape to a big city,
Or some random state in
The middle of nowhere with a
Cushy j*b…
I wonder where
I’ll end up.
There’s not much to do here,
For the most part,
Other than smoke in empty
Parking lots and
Drink with comrades in depressing bars
On the weekends
Where most of the attendees are 30 and over.
I like to
Look up into the sky praying for some sort
Of answer,
And spend as much time as possible
Chasing this silly dream of wanting to
Spend the rest of my life
Creating.
The starving artist cliche
That my Mom always feared.
//
1. Film photos from the 2000s, taken from my Aunt’s old disposable cameras, found in family garage
2. Note to self
3. Dirty Diana
4. Sunday (not much going on)
5. Graduation
6. regularism philosophy
7. Shark gang
8. regularisperfect
9. Long Island polaroids
10. Happy birthday Dad
hillside haven:
Anywhere you go,
You can see the sky.
Anywhere you go,
You can see people
From all walks of life—
Beautiful and ugly,
Not in a physical manner,
But their minds,
Ideologies,
Perspectives,
Ethics,
And actions.
A lot of people’s
Beauty
And ugliness
Showcase at different times
Depending on the person,
Some are incredibly overt,
And you can get a glimpse
Upon first impression.
Others are great at
Masking,
Hiding their true intentions,
And are able to manipulate
People like a puppeteer.
No matter what evils
You may encounter,
Never let them sway you,
Take your smile away,
Take your integrity away,
Or your spark.
Always remember,
After a door shuts,
Another one will appear
And open,
Right around the corner.
I don’t know how,
But you’ll make it,
Somehow,
Someway,
Because it can be anyone,
That person you see on
The screen,
Can be you,
All you have to do is
Be what you consider regular,
Because regularisperfect.
How to be a “creative”
Take photos with niche internet micro internet celebrities and post them online
Take numerous selfies and post them; people definitely want to see your face instead of the work you create—that’s why they follow you, right?
Don’t actually work hard or put any effort into your craft.
Listen to buzz word genres that don’t make much of any sense, like the term “indie sleaze.”
Lose any sense of individuality that you have; become a puppet.
Lose your grip on reality and what really is important, and become sucked into the online world, becoming so chronically online to the point that you care far too much about applications that only exist online.
Develop an ego that doesn’t stem from confidence and self-belief in yourself, but instead, is from deep-rooted insecurities.
Only have relationships with people if they’re transactional; who needs genuine friendships in 2025?
Never truly have a vision or think far ahead; just do things in the moment, and leave everything extremely last minute. This will definitely result in memorable art that people will care about, and eventually reference years down the line.
Steal from others, ideas have no ownership, why actually be creative when you can just have minions whose work you steal and stamp your name on?
