new book of poems “Elegy for Pangaea” out 9/15/26. pre-order here: https://fonografeditions.com/catalog/fono-46-elegy-for-pangea-by-mark-leidnerhttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3muwxz73lm22qdear god, why are we all this plastic zebra abandoned in the candy rack?07 Sep 2026 16:56 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3muwxz73lm22qhttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3muvi3vftqk26if I ever became extremely bitter and depressed about being overlooked because i live in a flyover state, I would simply relocate myself and all of the people I love to whichever was the closest coast07 Sep 2026 02:38 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3muvi3vftqk26https://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3muuy4tect22nknighting myself with a plastic knife in the bathroom at Medieval Times06 Sep 2026 21:52 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3muuy4tect22nhttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3muuc6vz5wc2fif the large hadron collider scientists discovered the entire universe was somehow circumscribed by an actual ass yellow submarine, I don’t even want to think about how people who hate the beatles would react. it would be absolutely devastating for them06 Sep 2026 15:20 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3muuc6vz5wc2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3murrx45nfk2pstoked to announce my debut autofiction novel, about an unconventionally handsome and charismatic genius, as well as kind and generous community servant, scientist, and artist, trying to figure out why he’s only 99.9% happy instead of an even 100%, is forthcoming from knopf05 Sep 2026 15:24 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3murrx45nfk2phttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3muq7cd44sk27my therapist is watching the u.s. open on their phone during our session, i can tell because I can see the reflection of the ball zipping back and forth across the court in her retinas05 Sep 2026 00:17 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3muq7cd44sk27https://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3mupcuwirbk2cIt’s awful when something is tragic, it’s bonkers when something is insane, it’s nice when something is cool, and it’s fine when something is ok.04 Sep 2026 15:49 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mupcuwirbk2chttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3muntakbpxk2cHeartbreaking possible opening line of this possible novel: “Last February, my son walked into the Spherical Fog and didn’t walk out.” Everything unspools from there. Absolutely breathtaking, hypothetically [contains quote post or other embedded content]04 Sep 2026 01:36 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3muntakbpxk2chttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3munl26f4hc23I hate it when my head accumulates white hairs, my skin hangs loosely from my worn out limbs, and my dreams become the dried out husks of dreams03 Sep 2026 23:09 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3munl26f4hc23https://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3mun5jtlmgc23Spherical Fog would be a good name for a poorly understood environmental threat in a quasi-sci-fi experimental literary novel or novella. It could also be effective as the title, but only if its metaphorical significance is thoroughly explored or remains pointedly unexplained.03 Sep 2026 19:08 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mun5jtlmgc23https://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3muku3eryek2ymy buddy quit reading the odyssey halfway through, then lost his life savings on kalshi– betting penelope would marry one of the suitors before odysseus returned. he thought he was being smart by not betting on a specific suitor–now his wife is leaving him. brutal beat02 Sep 2026 21:13 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3muku3eryek2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3mukbjtr6x22fI have some pretty wild pet theories about media. one is that HBO makes television shows of a mostly decently good quality, while Netflix usually makes almost as good shows, but not quite. Would any podcasts (with video as well as audio) like to interview me about my views?02 Sep 2026 15:41 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mukbjtr6x22fhttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3muiktax6cc2swife claims I muttered “my autofiction is powered by ai" in my sleep last night. not a great morning. choosing not to believe her01 Sep 2026 23:22 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3muiktax6cc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3muia6yn7gs2wmy friend is obsessed with the idea that if he were one of penelope's suitors she would've chosen him over odysseus, and when pressed to explain how the hell he could've pulled it off, he says he'd have *pretended to be odysseus* the way odysseus pretended to be a beggar, lmao01 Sep 2026 20:12 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3muia6yn7gs2whttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3muhurrkgc22d“Ok, muse—you cheeky, fickle fuck. Blow my shit up with the most disgusting, pearlescent barstool anecdotes about that conniving, self-gaslighting GOAT of toxic horseshit, Odysseus!!” —first line from my modern English translation of the Odyssey, forthcoming from Knopf01 Sep 2026 16:48 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3muhurrkgc22dhttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3mugkdaclqs2dmy kid seemed down after school so I asked him what was bothering him and he looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, “dad, why do we have to live in a slopocracy?”01 Sep 2026 04:08 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mugkdaclqs2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3mufps544a22dadding outright despair and unchecked gluttony to my 53-man roster, waiving tempered ambition and performative ennui31 Aug 2026 20:13 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mufps544a22dhttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3mufipf2gxk24the people who wrote Star Wars were obviously very drunk on grain alcohol. how else could they have come up with such crazy stuff? I don’t drink myself, and when I write space opera, all that comes out is thinly veiled autofiction only nominally set in space31 Aug 2026 18:06 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mufipf2gxk24https://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3mue3nk7nzc2kVanilla Starlight would be a good name for a racehorse, a sailboat, a fragrance, a child whose parents are in a cult, a new drink or add-in at Starbucks, a desktop theme on a Chromebook, or a half-elf multi-class ranger/paladin in Dungeons and Dragons31 Aug 2026 04:40 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mue3nk7nzc2khttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3mucfhj7fus2qThe Odyssey is essentially a story about a guy who wants to lose weight—the weight of his choices—but refuses to take ozempic—the ozempic of forgetting—and instead adopts an insane diet and exercise regimen—the insane diet and exercise regimen of homecoming.30 Aug 2026 12:30 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mucfhj7fus2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3mu7brwmv4k2sthe odyssey but ithaca is a bagel shop in new york in the 1970s, and instead of shooting an arrow through a row of axe heads, the old man proves he’s odysseus by throwing a lit cigarette like a dart through all the holes in a long line of lined up bagels29 Aug 2026 06:47 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu7brwmv4k2shttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3mu6i5dnkrs2athe future is endlessly, ruthlessly damoning into infinite nolan while the past leguizamos half-assedly into scattered afflek and the present after hathawaying through open theron barely, zendayaly hollands28 Aug 2026 23:08 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu6i5dnkrs2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3mu3ojdrti22joh you don’t like blurbs huh? you only like the actual ass poems in the books the blurbs promote? well, have you considered the fact that every poem is itself a blurb for poetry as an artform in general? bro if you look at it like that, you are in love with blurbs27 Aug 2026 20:24 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu3ojdrti22jhttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3mu37q3ixak2zdinosaurs have attacked me in the middle of writing every single poem I have ever written, and that is why none of my poems are good, but they would have been if not for the dinosaurs, and none of them being bad is my fault27 Aug 2026 15:59 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu37q3ixak2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3mtzc5l67qk23every new book should be written in a new language, and it should begin with a 50-page introduction that teaches you how to read that language. then you can read the book26 Aug 2026 21:37 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtzc5l67qk23https://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3mtxm6nkagc26thought I saw Pearl Jam in the clouds. I couldn’t believe it: all five members exquisitely rendered in bulbous mists overhead. my eyes watered. I asked my friend if he saw it too. he took one look at the clouds and squinted and said “that’s Weezer not Pearl Jam” and he was right26 Aug 2026 05:31 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtxm6nkagc26https://bsky.app/profile/markleidner.bsky.social/post/3mtwgqaglb22hsome of y’all need to worry less about disclosure day and more about dick’s closure day. when the sporting goods retailer in the strip mall near your home shuts its doors, the only “aliens” will be your kids showing up to their sporting events without the right gear25 Aug 2026 18:21 +0000at://did:plc:wqvw2b5k53qmacfblax6bblk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtwgqaglb22h