Writer of the Month: Don Illich/"The Ad"

Summer is in full swing and the new season brings new content as we revive our Writer of the Month features. This past June was a bit warmer than expected (heavy understatement), but we put the heat aside to come together in the upper room of the Colony Club for June Moon. Our Writer of the Month is Donald Illich, whose poem “The Ad” finds the humor and tragedy in selectively searching for love. In this piece, Illich pinpoints the perfect balance between humor and melancholy, sadness and sweetness. His dry humor and sardonic style left the audience laughing and brought a refreshing touch to the sweltering night.

Bio:

Donald Illich's work has appeared in literary journals such as The Iowa Review, LIT, Nimrod, Passages North, Rattle, and Sixth Finch. His previous publications include two chapbooks, Rocket Children and The Art of Dissolving. He is a writer-editor in Rockville, Maryland. His first full-length collection is Chance Bodies (The Word Works, 2018), which is available for purchase here.

The Ad

Single celled organism seeks same; must have thin, permeable membrane, no fatties; enjoys proteins, nucleic acids, basic elements and minerals. Kinky: likes splitting apart into separate beings. Interested in long-term relationship leading to evolutionary development; gills; legs; scales; fur; skin; brain that thinks, feels, suffers greatly; loves badly; hates well. Find me in hot pea soup of life. I’ll be wearing a bow tie, pseudopods raised to the sky.