The monstrosity is the thing.
“you can always pay somebody to do that for you”
the young man went to get the thing for him.
they tunnel through the belly of the whale with the frenzied impunity of insects.
“you made it!”
things fall through a hole in his pack until he patches it.
this room is the cathedral.
“MARCO!”
glass and painted metal or chrome laughs.
a toddler whines “wait!” and runs to catch up with her father.
“she had a shocking experience”
assimilate something that comes out of all this fun.
the buzzing fluorescent cold a low roar then rising and falling.
“he cries”
for when he fell he got up again with only a mystery to show.
a child screams unintelligibly and scampers off.
“I feel like it’s eating me!”
he pretends to die and is buried with his face exposed.
when it stops hurting that is when the beast has swallowed.
“is there any fat in that?”
we were persuaded by the captain to set out in something called a calm.
not so cold anymore contacts dry like plastic cataracts I become a statue a photograph.
“he can go all over”
a carving on the bow of a ship.
I lose my soul in this madness this horror I have to leave now struggle to move away from the yawning black abyss of the maw, the convulsing warm pink throat of the beast, the strangulation of the darkness, the silence and certainty and painless dark at the center in the belly of the whale.
“weird”
the story about that other thing too.
move, damn it, move!
“uh, yeah, yes, um, yeah”
I never saw a man more frightened of something than the captain.
10. Dian Leo &
The young man went to get the thing for him. He was like this, I was like this, we were like.. I like fish things. But I’m a potato. We fished for potatoes, so that makes me a potanibal. I’m going to get the other group. No, you’re going to squish things. That thing he went to get for him.
11. Emily Gustason &
You’re making up excuses he says. You’re making up excuses I say. You’re.
Here or. He says or didn’t say.
You’re making up excuses. I saw them sitting on the counter, so I wrapped them in aluminum foil and put them in the fridge, on the bottom shelf, next to the soup I made over the weekend.
Sometimes I wonder who’s going to fix you. Who is going to fix You? It seems we have a lot of problems.
You sit down and say “I’ll make it easy for you to see me.” You put skin around your heart and tie your shoelaces. You tap your fingers together. You hold your phone in your right hand. You check the time.
It’s easy enough, seeing you, but this isn’t seeing you.
You sit forward and uncross your legs. You hunch your back. You check the time.
You check the time. I check the time.
I AM BOYCOTTING THE PHONE. I AM BOYCOTTING THE PHONE. I AM NOT GOING TO ANSWER THE PHONE TODAY. NO PHONE TODAY WOOOOT!!!! Neil wrote on a small notepad. He laughed and underlined the last sentence. Today’s all about you, baby. Setting the notepad down, he rose from the kitchen table. Neil opened the cupboard above the sink which contained all his snacks. He had ordered a bag of tortilla chips and a 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew from an online grocer. FedEx Priority Overnight. Neil turned back to the notepad and began to etch in the lines of the cabinet, creating a crude still-life observation of its contents.
13. Forrest Escobedo &
(constricted, rubber plates and plastic wood)
she tries to navigate a socially inclined world;
is that… six dollars? not enough thanks for taking you to the Mcd–
he wanted to sleep with me, and i didn’t mean like–
(guys in jerseys, man in hat talks to little girl in pink and they)
she tries to nagivate in such a socially inclined world but;
i was hiding behind that door and he just comes up and i could just tell–
she tries to “navigate” in such a “socially” inclined “world” but it just seems like, really…
sliced smoked salmon roll onto that bagel with the intensity of a cigarette burn because the ashes just hit the spot
My mom and, you know, the busstop? just meet me–
(walking by, man laughs loudly before apologizing)
she tries to n-n-n-navigate in such a socially inclined world.
Once we had this gelato in Bolder Colorado
and it was pretty good,
It came between the times you choose,
beneath an overwhelm of soiled florescence
a breeding ground for rabies, scabies and babies
It was good because I’m controlling my body
and all the bridesmaids were variables of pink
How can I need numbers?
“You get a little bit on your spoon
and blow on it”
You breathe successful correlation
way way down the hall
“Where are you,” inflected upward continuance
“I’m scared.”
After a click-click, and a men’s-robe swish
You stick it to her
“You could be my green caboose dinnerware,
And if you’re confused
You might not like them…”
You’ll get her eventually.