Apr/May 2026  •   Poetry

Readymade for you, boo: Bicycle Wheel (1913)

by Stephen Bett

Painting by Pamela Heater

Painting by Pamela Heater



Readymade for you, boo: Bicycle Wheel (1913)

Readymade: a bicycle wheel mounted on the seat of a kitchen stool

Wheel 'er up Yurup, ah'm Readymade for you, boo
Marcel living rent free in our head        —weeks now

I had the happy idea to fasten a bicycle wheel
to a kitchen stool and watch it turn

(reportáge:        we're bringing it straight to you, fou)

Its own linguistic'o plastic'o        made ready: Lit-Art
(ideal for PoWorld too, huh?)

Stripped down, its own deep aversion
chosen with absolute indifference

Absence of taste measure no taste at all
complete anesthesia, said D.

Anti-art, No. one Son of Dada        iconoclast
ahh…        convention, its nigh-high pomposities

M.D. again:        Dada was very serviceable
as a purgative

And no, we're not falling asleep
…looking at you kid        Dada to us all