Chapbooks
If William Carlos Williams swallowed a Xanax and three tabs of acid, if he attempted to take a long nap, and if his brain was wired to a contraption that transcribed his bad dreams into poems, they might look a bit like Michael Martin Shea’s placid, euphoric, and horrifying vision of the lyric. In To Hell With Good Intentions, things don’t merely contain ideas; rather, they vibrate like prophetic objects in a televised crime scene, overflowing with the alternate grief and joy of our excessive present—a world filled with burning Amazon vans, airborne Doritos bags, and a humanity that is both knowable and not: “new toes which grew inside you / teeth new mouth new endless revision.” I am in love with Michael Martin Shea’s “beautiful brain” and these violent, gorgeous little poems that crawled like neon worms from its folds.
—Marty Cain
Poetry
Beautiful Days Press
2024
Comparative Morphologies
Poetry
Above/Ground Press
2018
The Immanent Field
Hybrid Prose
Essay Press
2017
“Soon”
Hybrid Prose
Garden Door Press
2016
Selected Journal Publications
“[Am I tormented].” Copenhagen. 2023
“[None of it matters now].” Sixth Finch. 2023.
“When You Weren’t a Boy.” Typo. 2023.
Five Poems from I’m Sorry But None of This Is My Fault. Tyger Quarterly. 2023.
Three Poems from I’m Sorry But None of This Is My Fault. APARTMENT Poetry. 2023.
Three Poems from I’m Sorry But None of This Is My Fault. The Tiny. 2022.
Four Poems from To Hell With Good Intentions. Mercury Firs. 2022.
Three Poems. Afternoon Visitor. 2020.
“Translation” Fence. 2018.
From Comparative Morphologies. Dusie. 2018.
From The Immanent Field. Western Humanities Review. 2017.
From The Immanent Field. PEN Poetry Series. 2016.
From The Immanent Field. Conjunctions. 2015.
From “Hermeneutics.” Prelude. 2015
“The Lake.” The Pinch. 2015.
“The Children.” Jubilat. 2014.
Five Poems. Dreginald. 2013.
“Sketch #7.” Colorado Review. 2013.
“The Devouring.” Pleiades. 2013.
Two Poems. New Orleans Review. 2012.
“Speech Therapy.” Salt Hill. 2011.
Past Readings
The Splice Reading Series—May 11th, 2024. New Orleans, Louisiana.
Spiral Editions AWP Off-Site Reading, Vulpes Bastille—February 8th, 2024. Kansas City, Missouri.
To Hell With Good Intentions Virtual Launch—February 4th, 2024. Zoom.
Deep South Writers Series, Carpe Diem Cafe & Wine Bar—February 1st, 2024. Lafayette, Louisiana.
Another Way To Say Reading Series, Molasses Books—September 29th, 2018. Brooklyn, New York.
After Hours Poetry Hour, The Writer’s Block—April 4th, 2017. Las Vegas, Nevada.
Spork Storefront Reading—April 3rd, 2017. Tucson, Arizona.
The Burning Chair Reading Series Presents: The Next Poetry Festival—March 21st, 2014. Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Trobar Ric Reading Series—February 23rd, 2013. Water Valley, Mississippi.
TENDERLOIN/Cold Cuts Reading Series—January 12th, 2013. New Orleans, Louisiana.
Grey Book Press/Nighthawk Review Reading Series—October 20th, 2012. Tallahassee, Florida.
Southern Writers, Southern Writing Conference—July 12th, 2012. Oxford, Mississippi.
PANK Invasion Reading Series—November 18th, 2011. New Orleans, Louisiana.
Broken English Reading Series—September 20th, 2011. Oxford, Mississippi.