JURISDICTION OF THE SELF-CLEANING OVEN [Alberta in late 2006] That booze-wise, two-stroke shill the party boss. An assembly close to thirty years redundant. Civic revulsion stillborn. PR gloss the face of untried force: plain truth best blent with ooze, like bitumen under a cap of moss. More realtors by the day, his agents, sent corkscrew […]
Gerland Arthur Moore | WARRANT OFFICER HAWKO
WARRANT OFFICER HAWKO —for Jason MacPhail Crow-nosed; cigar stub of a face, slaps blueberry pie into an outstretched tin canteen cup like an insult. Acting as if I was a freckle-wristed Dickensian character holding out a bowl for more. Slams in sludge-brown army stew, tills the muck with ladle; churns it until the mess-kit metamorphoses […]
Darryl Salach | THE WEIRD KID SEATED AT THE BACK OF THE CLASSROOM
THE WEIRD KID SEATED AT THE BACK OF THE CLASSROOM Speed freak is what they called him No speed was too great for this maniacal son Backing up in an easy roll his heartbeat quadruples Intensity white hot against a delicate summer breeze Engines simulate orgasm as pistons compress and eject their fluid Moonlight invigorates […]
Daniel Goodwin | SPEED
SPEED Saint Senna saw God, so he said, as he zipped around the track at 300 km/hr. Slipped beyond design constraints, was a genius in the rain, this Brazilian bad boy not from the wrong side of town but the wrong hemisphere. Trashtalked with his motor mouth, showing up the Europeans at their sport on […]
Anthony Labriola | THRIFT
THRIFT Thrift, thrift. Will’s word for speed, acceleration, ………. tempo of betrayal, the time it takes to hasten ambition, poison your brother, ………. marry his widow, speed up accession. Thrift is the itchy finger on the trigger, ………. split-second timing of do or die, blink of an assassin’s eye—thrifty shutter speed ………. in the quick […]
Andy McGuire | WHY WE CRY ON PLANES
WHY WE CRY ON PLANES Barred from our devices It’s painfully apparent— The world goes on without us. Inhaling the stale air Of many moods, Our freedom to choose Clooney or Witherspoon, I bear the breakneck interval Silently chanting Cancun, Cancun, Cancun. Author’s Bio ANDY MCGUIRE releases music under the alias John Alice. His […]
A. Garnett Weiss | HESITATION MARKS
HESITATION MARKS I have worshipped the wrong gods and grace in the space of one heartbeat, ridged with bright shards of broken glass. My future lit by bridges and their burning or hot-wired to this smear of light and speed, tied up with ribbons into the shape of a man. Author’s Bio A. GARNETT […]
Jacob Scheier | JUMBO ELEGY
JUMBO ELEGY “Paralysed force, gesture without motion;” —The Hollow Men The cement elephant plays chicken with a train, forever up ahead. With painted eyes he stares down the ghost of that locomotive. Makes it vanish. The town’s barren tracks like casket handles holding nothing’s ceaseless progress. Jumbo, the world’s most beloved behemoth, still as a […]