Helen Huynh (2025)

INTERVIEW WITH MINOR PAINTER

OLIVER PRESTON

The product they’ll give you
Nothing to do with mine. With them
You’ve someone you can trust.
They pay their electric bills on time
Eat dinner regularly. I could never
Glue two pieces of paper together
I’d push around for days.
I’m not, you understand, some kind of mechanic.

But then you’re in this same surround. You go
All of you to the same three bars. It’s not up to me
How I really seem. I went over there the other night
To give out my card. She must have known, this drunk
Lady. Turns to me and says, nothing to paint, paint yourself.
Sure I thought. I love that. Can you imagine, on someone’s wall?


Oliver Preston is a writer living in Brooklyn. He holds an MFA from Brooklyn College.