Dan Manchester

dan.isnot.cool

11 February 2026 23:16

The interview in question (it’s full of other equally brilliant lines, of course): www.thebeliever.net/an-interview...

Dan Manchester

dan.isnot.cool

11 February 2026 23:16

I’ve been thinking a lot about this line from Kaveh Akbar in a 2024 Believer interview: “Frippery about one’s own morality is the dubious luxury of normal people, but I can’t get away with that shit anymore.” It speaks to my sobriety, yes, but also how we can be in this moment of unrelenting hell.

Dan Manchester

dan.isnot.cool

11 February 2026 23:16

I went to grad school at IU 20 years ago & lived about 8 blocks from the football stadium for years. We’d sit on the porch listening to games every fall & guess how badly they were losing by the sound of the crowd. The fact they’re going to the national championship is utterly bananas to me.

Dan Manchester

dan.isnot.cool

11 February 2026 23:15

It’s called “A Police,” taken from the infuriatingly vague and abstract euphemism “a police involved shooting” that headline writers like so much.

Dan Manchester

dan.isnot.cool

11 February 2026 23:15

Direct link to my poem: thediagram.com/25_4/manches...