Cover by M. Ezra Zhang
Self-Portrait with LSD & Mirror is a relentless kaleidoscope. Moving through bedrooms and beloveds, a local park shifting seasons, East Village bars and California coastal highways, Zhang’s speaker is vulnerable in their seeking and brave in their desire—wishing always to locate the moment when they might share in the fractaled possibility of their world with someone else. Zhang is careful in their trust: of cyclicality, of always returning, of the unlimited possibility of their own language. I was floored, weeping, cherishing this marvelous chapbook of poems. What a gift to see myself in the mirror, right next to them, and what a gift for all of us to peer, just briefly, into these tender self-portraits.
–Noel Yu-Jen
Zhang explores the most difficult human emotions without flinching. These exhilarating poems are without self pity and attest to the speaker's rollercoaster search for truth with a humanity that transcends the personal. The four great subjects here, handled with extraordinary originality, are love, addiction, time, and fear. These poems challenge us to answer the unanswerable and succeed in convincing us that, through love, it might be possible to overcome loneliness and forget time.
–Catherine Barnett