Editor @ December 31, 2008 # No Comment Yet
Reverence
by sarah manguso
Love not the rider but the old rider,
the ghost in the saddle: Obey that ghost.
A good horse runs even at the shadow of the whip.
But we are not good horses.
We bolt. We stand still in bad weather.
We rely on things we know are unreliable,
it feels so good just to rely.
We are relied on.
But [...]
Editor @ December 27, 2008 # One Comment
pitch
by joseph reich
i want to put out a reality show
which is devoted purely to porn
so when the cameras do their
token close-up of the mom
and dad we can give
them something
to really
cry
about
to really
be
proud
of.
for my porn
reality show
there will be
no made up
manufactured
conflicts and
confrontations
no
forced liquor
or he said
she said
cheating
on each
other when
backs are
turned
just pure
raw (un)
adult-
rated
fucking
and pillow
talk and
yes
hot dog
when america
advertises something
like must see [...]
Editor @ December 24, 2008 # No Comment Yet
Christmas Morning Without Presents: The Depression, Granite City, Illinois
by ellery akers
It is 1929. The moon falls on the floor,
the pantry is empty, beans hardening like rocks in the
cans.
No, you did not expect this.
The same cracked wall with its stains,
odor of your mother’s cleaning fluid,
curtains with their clean hems,
blowing in and out.
You touch the bones and [...]
Editor @ December 22, 2008 # One Comment
Rent
by jane cooper
If you want my apartment, sleep in it
but let’s have a clear understanding:
the books are still free agents.
If the rocking chair’s arms surround you
they can also let you go,
they can shape the air like a body.
I don’t want your rent. I want
a radiance of attention
like the candles’s flame when we eat,
I mean a [...]
Halifax @ December 21, 2008 # 2 Comments
{The Family Two-shoes}
by halifax
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
Her husband’s left boot on her foot
makes his lead-steps before their children still.
The right one is on her eldest son.
He followed close behind to watch
Her steps, match the stride, and
In his father’s voice
Intone the calling song.
He stands as tall behind her now
on the [...]
Gene @ December 20, 2008 # One Comment
I Am Surrounded
by gene defcon
I am surrounded
By large-lunged blowhards
Scurrying like newborn rats
Just outside my cubicle walls
I fantasize about pushing their faces
With intense force
cerebella @ December 18, 2008 # 3 Comments
happy birthday, universe.
by cerebella
happy birthday, universe.
the blueberry skinned sky
is poked,
and dripping into china seas.
sailors gape their mouths
wide open.
(we all need to remember
why we pick up the phone
when it rings, sometimes.)
today the galaxies
orbit the light posts
and the trees,
and i really feel like
people should pay
a little bit more attention
to those things.
i thought i saw another
firework. [...]
Editor @ December 17, 2008 # No Comment Yet
So Sweet Our Teeth Ache
by jennifer knox
Daiquiris come
from a drive-thru,
at least
the biggest ones
used to,
and our beer’s magic
as meth.
Let’s get incapacitated
under a tree—
short of that
slowly bleed
to death through
our sock bottoms.
We got nothing
going on at work.
We got no
fresh perspective,
and by the looks
of the stumps
still rotting
in the bear traps on the lawn,
none’s coming.
Editor @ December 16, 2008 # One Comment
Stupid Punk vs. Smart Punk
by kim gordon
When I first moved to NYC. I
was at the Kiev. Johnny Thunders was
in the next booth. He was there with some
friends. He threw sugar in my eggs having
“a punk moment.” I told him to fuck off…
He called me four eyes. I blushed and bit my tongue.
He’s a dead punk. [...]
savagewave @ December 15, 2008 # 5 Comments
who googled who
by tara przybille bradley
Does it frighten you to know that you can be googled?
What the hell?
So what the hell?
So what?
The what of it is that it may just be as painful as a gunshot to the stomach
At the very least, it could certainly knock the wind out of you
depending on who does it [...]