Billeh Nickerson started collecting barf bags during his early teens. This collection started out of necessity, as his sister always got sick when she flew, and he and the rest of his family got used to grabbing bags when boarding or disembarking planes. Billeh’s father was a pilot, and he and his pilot friends also collected bags from different airlines during their travels. Billeh had forgotten the bags existed until early 2009, when his mother used the barf bags instead of bubble wrap when Billeh moved across the country. He is now amassing the collection again.

Billeh Nickerson’s first poetry book, The Asthmatic Glassblower, was shortlisted for the Publishing Triangle’s Gay Men’s Poetry Award. The hilarious and illuminating poems in his new collection, McPoems, published by Arsenal Pulp Press, are based on his years working at a particularly well-known fast-food restaurant.