tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18698361105286623112024-03-13T00:55:16.837-07:00The Dope Fiend DailyThe Dope Fiend Dailyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10136327105500714877noreply@blogger.comBlogger605125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-899181313852769372024-03-07T09:36:00.000-08:002024-03-07T13:49:12.871-08:00Don't Eat Paint Chips Or Become A Poet By JPR<p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"Hey, is your mag open to submissions?"</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I run a daily unless the voices tell me not to because they want to party.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"The mag is only open to cuddling and long walks on the beach and quickies behind the dumpster behind Wal-Mart at the moment and donations to my charity: Tip The Strippers Handsomely In Hopes To Get Free Pole Dancing Lessons....”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The lost little writer learned the Mad Editor title was far from just a title.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Then instantly regretted attaching their phone number with their submission. Which is borderline stupid when dealing with someone who hasn't slept in six years.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Crossing my fingers to set the Guinness record.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sometimes I wish I had followed my dreams and become a serial killer, instead, or a bus driver for invisible people.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxB0qs2IpIx76o1ew-MXXcSn4W47_Wsep6HYcTNNYP45KB-Tjd9XA_JzDlZOAPqZmOyCNZW0AXvabsCyFclSnhc4YwP-Qxeki0ICLjjpAIVPXKVZqZGqWZFzr_xnfbrseefjMHR7TPjs9DzZb7EcBF4dfAMKUBdtbkLM3eIMuHZj5lWD83GNJV5EbL3Sqk/s324/20181013_075722_0001.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="204" data-original-width="324" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxB0qs2IpIx76o1ew-MXXcSn4W47_Wsep6HYcTNNYP45KB-Tjd9XA_JzDlZOAPqZmOyCNZW0AXvabsCyFclSnhc4YwP-Qxeki0ICLjjpAIVPXKVZqZGqWZFzr_xnfbrseefjMHR7TPjs9DzZb7EcBF4dfAMKUBdtbkLM3eIMuHZj5lWD83GNJV5EbL3Sqk/s320/20181013_075722_0001.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">JPR is the greatest human residing on his personal island off the coast of Jupiter, Spain. It is a real place in his nonexistent heart.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">He likes drawing tits on random sleeping persons' foreheads and calling in bomb threats to Taco Bell.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">He once was a roadie for Willie Nelson, so of course he was swimming in the pussy…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">He uses humor to mask the fact he hates humanity but likes for people who fear he will want to meet them someday.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">He once painted by number. Now, he paints outside the box which has earned him a lifetime ban from Michael’s art supply franchise because they do not support his genius. Much like you reading this.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">He hosts an open mic at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean every Saturday night.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">He also collects drugs to keep the streets safe where there are no sidewalks.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I like you, I don't care what your friends say about you. You're kinda okay.</span></p><br />The Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02373465203432008488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-44271748269640626942024-02-14T13:28:00.000-08:002024-02-14T13:28:18.437-08:00guillermo By John Grochalski <p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">guillermo</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">sits outside</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">on a bench</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">with his hard on</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">and his whiskey</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">talking to twelve-year-old girls</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">nursing an injured pigeon</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">don’t touch that thing,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">guillermo says</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">pigeons have diseases</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">pigeons are nothing but flying rats</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">guillermo drinks his whiskey</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">and pulls on his crotch</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">he smiles at the twelve-year-old girls</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">he wishes he was as beautiful</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">as something like a flying rat.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWzHTAQ-XOg6JWbEqDs_xcqi7fh_xKyzkXxdAiAyLJfmdmQgSMqTGdEs7KpgQysdMnv1pSrwFDBZ7_0RSQfE5VpapxqGm3w7vqyPR1b7X5DLoHqnLNDEC1bT93DvC2QHMmKMk16-9MfiGiBSuRadm1eEnuRUOzfuUZYFN8_CUs5beB06XZJRT4Kpd-cBYo/s960/johngrochalski2018(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWzHTAQ-XOg6JWbEqDs_xcqi7fh_xKyzkXxdAiAyLJfmdmQgSMqTGdEs7KpgQysdMnv1pSrwFDBZ7_0RSQfE5VpapxqGm3w7vqyPR1b7X5DLoHqnLNDEC1bT93DvC2QHMmKMk16-9MfiGiBSuRadm1eEnuRUOzfuUZYFN8_CUs5beB06XZJRT4Kpd-cBYo/s320/johngrochalski2018(1).jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: medium;">John Grochalski is the author of the poetry collections, The Noose Doesn’t Get Any Looser After You Punch Out (Six Gallery Press 2008), Glass City (Low Ghost Press, 2010), In The Year of Everything Dying (Camel Saloon, 2012), Starting with the Last Name Grochalski (Coleridge Street Books, 2014), and The Philosopher’s Ship (Alien Buddha Press, 2018). He is also the author of the novels, The Librarian (Six Gallery Press 2013), and Wine Clerk (Six Gallery Press 2016). Grochalski currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, where the garbage can smell like roses if you wish on it hard enough.</span></span></p>The Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02373465203432008488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-70909925415120809262023-10-03T12:04:00.002-07:002023-10-03T12:04:10.671-07:00The Lord Knows Not A Fly by JPR <div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-size: large;">But the pain knows not an intrusion of verse.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Strangled is the falsehood our lives unmasked perverse.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Its deadline’s communion I guess I ultimately must face alone.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I abandoned all hope, a reward of my ego's facade.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Addiction is a serpent's strength in its promise to strike you down.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I've closed myself off enough, now I can't open my thoughts to anyone.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Help muted being consumed in every drink.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I am eroding as quickly as the shore’s embrace to the tide.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I am alone forever, not even within my final lost soul’s confession may I confide.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">None has its grace to confession foreseen me.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Forever extinguished, the lights glimmer.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">For some there truly never was a chance.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8cRC9Cbha4zZSNyjEliRHoOuTkfzEX21xblmeO5iUSNQ2GYMMmsmXcxAPDwgb65kEVCb9Ik3Cbrt-7tdpaWwgBBAlCZcTVZZboMJr7XcJ1u4Qrk92aMwqyrKDJG7tFu27itY1ZiJOVTjbJmsi2hWb1MzgidcZC5UkD1qgx87h3Vddd28P0FL9utJfzYc/s1600/bGYXSs3FeWBKs10-MjQ21lRAvsOJGB73j4SkiF7wojNUFiyx1FflDh-cK6i_AOuO6UyDlW5ljEUi1Y1hHjK-GJNeohyF8WvEPZW5MnPuaH5QX4IherHYGs87-urL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1066" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8cRC9Cbha4zZSNyjEliRHoOuTkfzEX21xblmeO5iUSNQ2GYMMmsmXcxAPDwgb65kEVCb9Ik3Cbrt-7tdpaWwgBBAlCZcTVZZboMJr7XcJ1u4Qrk92aMwqyrKDJG7tFu27itY1ZiJOVTjbJmsi2hWb1MzgidcZC5UkD1qgx87h3Vddd28P0FL9utJfzYc/s320/bGYXSs3FeWBKs10-MjQ21lRAvsOJGB73j4SkiF7wojNUFiyx1FflDh-cK6i_AOuO6UyDlW5ljEUi1Y1hHjK-GJNeohyF8WvEPZW5MnPuaH5QX4IherHYGs87-urL.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I create art, not explain it.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">JPR </span></div></div><div><br /></div></div>The Dope Fiend Dailyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10136327105500714877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-84018470072490740782023-08-23T13:23:00.004-07:002023-08-23T13:24:01.207-07:00The Sunny Side Of The Lobotomy by JPR<p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0-Nk75RZjtnanVTwwfIl7nEvG1wuXUl_JmstHxUaUFHuIpShNWacD1RA43V8PD_LZFHzLvZN-ISnGmTLFokdeErMKYLezj2EhoMAIpNzMc_PDYTdqICsJ2q_vSMXqL31n0FegZoHeNYeGcyAGnMXznplmDaYvYtYO9SFtsmjwNvHqJK7gXGEgPajb7t4/s612/367680937_2008042076210787_57615214108492267_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="612" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0-Nk75RZjtnanVTwwfIl7nEvG1wuXUl_JmstHxUaUFHuIpShNWacD1RA43V8PD_LZFHzLvZN-ISnGmTLFokdeErMKYLezj2EhoMAIpNzMc_PDYTdqICsJ2q_vSMXqL31n0FegZoHeNYeGcyAGnMXznplmDaYvYtYO9SFtsmjwNvHqJK7gXGEgPajb7t4/s320/367680937_2008042076210787_57615214108492267_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Tied down, trapped within.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The instruments surround; the compassion can not exist within the ever-sterile environment.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The demon's external promise of hope and science is a bastard's promise soaked with good intentions and doused with kerosene.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">All the pretty flowers painted upon the wall behind barred windows cries of a voiceless soul.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Let us play on the lesser children of society's unwanted trash.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">No straight jacket needed or padded room's protection.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">We are free to make our own choices as long as they don't question the constraints of a society's majority rule.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The hammers strike the skull's fracture.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">No demons torment the empty spaces, for those helpful, studied hands have locked them all within.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">A once thriving river of confused souls’ imagination is now locked within a nightmare’s perpetual labyrinth.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">As the sheep of a higher learning all clamor eager to one day practice destruction under the guise of healing.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">No need to trouble yourself, a bullet’s beauty seems a far lesser evil.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Bind your thoughts with your tongue.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Madness is within; let's play God to serve the ego and silence the truths buried in a fact.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">There is no answer to all mysteries eternal.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Silence your thoughts and please do throw away this perpetual miseries key.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadtaXbYM2zyZHQ-Y0tbhK8ILDXqZX9FNpr8DHxkMdZIQgBRmgOUH86-Ut2NLc4Q2mI950hBzvsrrUoI6zADDSqIPdeKUWPZne1aDEzIG-UiBne8PKT6bNhuxqP6JxDicVmkE9x5QTtaiCCNe06PmexT1WfuNZL8hAd1okxaJFicurc11lYRz0Fmj4-AE/s2000/369576324_597546942550845_3185027695564888752_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadtaXbYM2zyZHQ-Y0tbhK8ILDXqZX9FNpr8DHxkMdZIQgBRmgOUH86-Ut2NLc4Q2mI950hBzvsrrUoI6zADDSqIPdeKUWPZne1aDEzIG-UiBne8PKT6bNhuxqP6JxDicVmkE9x5QTtaiCCNe06PmexT1WfuNZL8hAd1okxaJFicurc11lYRz0Fmj4-AE/s320/369576324_597546942550845_3185027695564888752_n.jpg" width="210" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;">JPR is a southern gothic writer.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">His work has been published in Svartedauden Zine, Piker Press, It Takes All Kinds Literary Zine, Fixator Press, Spill The Words Press, Sava Press, Fearless Poetry Zine and here at The Dope Fiend Daily.</span></div><div><br /></div></div>The Dope Fiend Dailyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10136327105500714877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-44154286641974403102023-08-11T12:09:00.009-07:002023-08-11T12:12:38.922-07:00You May Press The Reset Button Now by Wayne Russell<div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-size: large;">Time gallops away in rebuttal, </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">the ocean is something of a </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">sledge hammer in my dreams.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Youth down by the pulsating </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">riverside, oceans undertow,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">snarling jaws or wilderness?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Take your pick</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">My parents didn't want me,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">my siblings I never knew, I </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">was a toddler when the the</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Sunshine State gave me a</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">brand new home in the lost</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and found.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Time is a thief, and I am the </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">candle, worthless; burning at </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">both ends. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Death awaits us all, just </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">around the corner; a dilapidated</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">crescendo circus, a pantomime;</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">a joke.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Mad times running along with</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">her mascara, and smudged red </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">lipstick, thin and trickling from</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">dead eyes, draining from mouth</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">agape, into the drainage of</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">opium paradise. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">We are all the fools wandering,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">translucent, luminous ghost behold,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">shanty town broken necklaces.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">We are stains composed from shattered</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">whiskey bottles and shredded time,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">wasted, wasted, and lobbed on down</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">the ghetto into the next generation;</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">press the reset button now. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-x87DPp9GLExAvr746VLm_NgkTw1DJbvkjAA9iLa62IUV-KNnTIWewit-zCi831GxVqKJiZ0AAlyp__8JCYonjaiQ2jdTTybOGFcnVAGI6Uonvxwz9qTqUP6zdoUQq8fswpSeY84cBJReywtP5q_qbaPALkdjO92ilKQLNvm8jv8umkUeTD-PSp8Vyw/s320/20210126_180127_(1)%20(1)%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-x87DPp9GLExAvr746VLm_NgkTw1DJbvkjAA9iLa62IUV-KNnTIWewit-zCi831GxVqKJiZ0AAlyp__8JCYonjaiQ2jdTTybOGFcnVAGI6Uonvxwz9qTqUP6zdoUQq8fswpSeY84cBJReywtP5q_qbaPALkdjO92ilKQLNvm8jv8umkUeTD-PSp8Vyw/s1600/20210126_180127_(1)%20(1)%20(1).jpeg" width="280" /></span></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wayne Russell has been published in many zines, magazines, anthologies, both online and in print. In his spare time he likes to practice his guitar, sing, creative writing, and photography. Waynes first full length poetry book</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Where</i><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Angels Fear</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> can be purchased on Amazon. </span></span></div></div></div>The Dope Fiend Dailyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10136327105500714877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-30928873234232311732023-08-09T12:07:00.006-07:002023-08-09T12:07:28.569-07:00Bowl of Black Petunias by Michael Lee Johnson<div style="text-align: left;"><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">I</span><span style="color: #0e101a;">f you must leave me, please</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><span style="font-size: large;">leave me for something special,</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0e101a;">like a beautiful bowl of black petunias</span><a name="m_-4511958595899130427_m_2073646223450295492_m_-3838879558784214750_m_-5999119065932999015_m_-4726780402036772609_m_-5942148295799854978_m_3268083602610591745_m_8554653404336829433_m_3661336680597415873_m_-5277989052725619529_m_6017339275494829924_m_6087473479504114047_m_6161070830165579485_m_-703684952033803770_m_-8192676121124113107_m_4789203872664643154_m_-8332436823563900075_m_4236089236844929545_m_9040600817650044679_m_-5676351398689385478_m_-2088299466195580909_m_-5178754041386078665__Hlk133682645"><em><span style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; padding: 0in;">—</span></em></a><span style="color: #0e101a;"></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><span style="font-size: large;">for when the memories leak</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><span style="font-size: large;">and cracks appear</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><span style="font-size: large;">and old memories fade,</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><span style="font-size: large;">flowers rebuff bloom,</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><span style="font-size: large;">sidewalks fester weeds</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><span style="font-size: large;">and we both lie down</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><span style="font-size: large;">separately from each other </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><span style="font-size: large;">for the very last time.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><div><span style="color: #0e101a;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi__G-7TKQFNJbKWfDNojreJlRw7y5jPXWGnXA72EEtVmqKhDahujZbvA8wIe_aTKXoaIzdjS0o86bg8ohzmx_6za0GI25Ln-A-QaXTcBHmKDIf99SMkK0mZNNJhD75bwmarXGRCadEuV_3w3q0TAC4F_36TS9SwNHaWF_YvwflzP1IFR9SwvJdlGSerTI/s363/ColorOkPicMlj%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi__G-7TKQFNJbKWfDNojreJlRw7y5jPXWGnXA72EEtVmqKhDahujZbvA8wIe_aTKXoaIzdjS0o86bg8ohzmx_6za0GI25Ln-A-QaXTcBHmKDIf99SMkK0mZNNJhD75bwmarXGRCadEuV_3w3q0TAC4F_36TS9SwNHaWF_YvwflzP1IFR9SwvJdlGSerTI/s320/ColorOkPicMlj%20(2).jpg" width="278" /></span></a></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Michael Lee Johnson lived ten years in Canada during the Vietnam era. Today he is a poet in the greater Chicagoland area, IL. He has 284 YouTube poetry videos. Michael Lee Johnson is an internationally published poet in 44 countries, a song lyricist, has several published poetry books, has been nominated for 6 Pushcart Prize awards, and 6 Best of the Net nominations. He is editor-in-chief of 3 poetry anthologies, all available on Amazon, and has several poetry books and chapbooks. He has over 453 published poems. Michael is the administrator of 6 Facebook Poetry groups. Member Illinois State Poetry Society: <a href="http://www.illinoispoets.org/.">http://www.illinoispoets.org/.</a></span></div></div></div></div>The Dope Fiend Dailyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10136327105500714877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-26226967722652876452023-08-06T14:41:00.002-07:002023-08-06T14:41:18.604-07:00The 3000 Pound Poetess by Toni Parisi<div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-size: large;">Fell yesterday and it created a small typhoon in Japan.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">This alerted Godzilla who upon taking one look at the source of this commotion told the Japanese government.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Fuck this job! I quit!</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ77LwFtJZLxI9oPNw_hx2t3uS_FdJuafx1uThuthOW1z_dUR2aVLCpxhmS7cfzBSzr2Pfhu65jpddVme4AA38I8vhyJPHFWcdFhIMso6b2zyCW6y9UVSzsl2LGaNsLhCWItNfJ_LHcyso5ZAExGL_RFcDNnxNup4uIspYizSxdT8A77U75jfKK2c52ps/s487/20230608_011824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="487" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ77LwFtJZLxI9oPNw_hx2t3uS_FdJuafx1uThuthOW1z_dUR2aVLCpxhmS7cfzBSzr2Pfhu65jpddVme4AA38I8vhyJPHFWcdFhIMso6b2zyCW6y9UVSzsl2LGaNsLhCWItNfJ_LHcyso5ZAExGL_RFcDNnxNup4uIspYizSxdT8A77U75jfKK2c52ps/s320/20230608_011824.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Toni Parisi is from Alexandria Virginia she does not consider herself a writer more so a hot-mess that tries to write.</span></div></div></div>The Dope Fiend Dailyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10136327105500714877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-75930995283089589462023-08-05T12:34:00.004-07:002023-08-05T12:34:19.733-07:00At My 50th Class Reunion by Wayne F. Burke<div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-size: large;">no one mentions that</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I was the Class President.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">No one at the table has anything</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">to say; no one seems to have heard</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">anything I said--</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">the girl that hated me</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">in High School, hates me</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">still; the guy that wanted to punch me</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">out, still wants to, but</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">still lacks the guts; the</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">cheer-leading sluts ignore</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">me--as they had back when;</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">the class vice-President runs the</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">show, as he had wanted to </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">in High School</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">(but lacked the savvy).</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The ones who never left</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">town, are the many;</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">those of us who did</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">leave, the few.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Everyone I hoped to see</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">is elsewhere or</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">dead.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">It is deja vu</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">all over again.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKMhvVR2evCUe-5-kC5aSQFDtNd8lCwQ6pzgKG5f45PWQlK_GelQFGm-7PVGvfy70h14_Scyc1rM7iIzyYsvZgc-R8PGS-47fmnyD0v259zuDvqOI2UYmquijQK6qXVBfLlnnggTHIJIacunBo2E7VFsrGF2CckcjabesJmas_r9xzYFbMuQVnh0KVjGw/s2640/DOC014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2640" data-original-width="2176" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKMhvVR2evCUe-5-kC5aSQFDtNd8lCwQ6pzgKG5f45PWQlK_GelQFGm-7PVGvfy70h14_Scyc1rM7iIzyYsvZgc-R8PGS-47fmnyD0v259zuDvqOI2UYmquijQK6qXVBfLlnnggTHIJIacunBo2E7VFsrGF2CckcjabesJmas_r9xzYFbMuQVnh0KVjGw/w330-h400/DOC014.jpg" width="330" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Wayne F. Burke's poetry has been widely published in print and online (including in THE DAILY DOPE FIEND). He is author of eight collections of poetry--most recently BLACK SUMMER, Spartan Press, 2021. He lives in Vermont (USA).</span></div></div>The Dope Fiend Dailyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10136327105500714877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-32972031306052217312023-08-04T11:51:00.000-07:002023-08-04T11:51:18.142-07:00The City That Never Loved Me by Kevin M. Hibshman<div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-size: large;">We held hands intermittently like two awkward,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">crushing teenagers after years of exchanging backward glances.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I felt your hear beat and smelled your fears rising like steam through the gutters.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I lived both within and without you.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Our flirtatious dalliances I've long outgrown.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Your charms have worn thin.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I now require a house that can be a home.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiulOYKU0lKE-ZxEw11ZlUZhJZdgFkeGJ51pPx-mJoXHdeQoi0r19jadyXEjqZB-rIcdZpZSwhJnGjzduUsX-npFwRlFcpZzaZiV7wfGt0IU3Bsvn5G8bAZ-5AMNXEOhXr_ySF1adthzFuohKKFaP6-3SFHpdo1Rmbjm705Q_0s9i_hHnu7fiYE5ij-kTY/s320/420591_10150857598929922_1310274633_n%20(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="320" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiulOYKU0lKE-ZxEw11ZlUZhJZdgFkeGJ51pPx-mJoXHdeQoi0r19jadyXEjqZB-rIcdZpZSwhJnGjzduUsX-npFwRlFcpZzaZiV7wfGt0IU3Bsvn5G8bAZ-5AMNXEOhXr_ySF1adthzFuohKKFaP6-3SFHpdo1Rmbjm705Q_0s9i_hHnu7fiYE5ij-kTY/s1600/420591_10150857598929922_1310274633_n%20(1).jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Kevin M. Hibshman has had poems published in many journals and magazines world wide. In addition, he has edited his poetry zine, Fearless, since 1990 and is the author of sixteen chapbooks including Love Sex Death Dreams (Green Bean Press, 2000) and Incessant Shining (Alternating Current, 2011). </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> His current book Cease To Destroy is out now and available on Amazon from Whiskey City Press. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cease-Destroy-Kevin-M-Hibshman/dp/B0BYRCVHCZ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=cease+to+destroy+kevin+m.+Hibshma"><span style="font-size: large;">https://www.amazon.com/Cease-Destroy-Kevin-M-Hibshman/dp/B0BYRCVHCZ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=cease+to+destroy+kevin+m.+Hibshma</span></a></div><div><br /></div></div></div>The Dope Fiend Dailyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10136327105500714877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-68108218357779976972023-08-03T12:35:00.000-07:002023-08-03T12:35:25.595-07:00Louie Louie by Mark James Andrews<div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-size: large;">“Loowee Loowee”</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">red headed Bridget</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">was singing it that way</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">through her cigarette</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">at a basement house party</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">in the dangerous 8th grade</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">where our heads were exploding</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">with the bomb of electric guitar</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">“Dun-Dun-Dun….Dun-Dun</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Dun-Dun-Dun…Dun-Dun”</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">of the Kingsmen with the slurring</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">wide-open words of the vocal</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">“What is he singing?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">What was THAT word?”</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">everybody was asking </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">so I was heating up the springtime</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">for the kids in my neighborhood</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">with my scribblings of the “dirty words”</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">which were being copied in class</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">by everybody and passed around</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">back and forth, desk to desk</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">trying to make something happen</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">in our world, anything at all</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and I was feeling my power with words</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">in my school where “U” was the flunk grade</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">which was always my grade in “Conduct”</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">at Holy Name of Jesus “grade school”</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and at the party “Louie Louie” (no comma)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">was on repeat for all of us juiced up </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">by the frantic line before the guitar solo </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">in the middle “Let’s give it to ‘em right now!”</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">so we had the 45 rpm “Single” </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">on repeat on the record player</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">the needle coming down over and over </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">because the words on the album version</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">were different being all cleaned up</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and now I was dancing with Bridget</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">doing my geeky version of “The Pony”</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and she was lip syncing the verses</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and I was straining hard on her lips</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">because I wasn’t wearing my glasses</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and Bridget was opening her mouth wider</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">her top teeth biting down on her bottom lip</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">her tongue appearing as pink as her lipstick</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">“Every night at 10 I lay her again</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Fuck my girl all kind of ways”</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and she sang it like that, like the guy’s words</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and she was eye to eye with me swaying</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">on her high heels for me helpless, helpless</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">in some kind of daze, in a trance of lust</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and I knew that if it wasn’t for writing up </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">my own take on “Loowee Loowee”</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">she wouldn’t be dancing with me </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">with her eyelids painted metallic green</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">in her hiked up skirt and nylons</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">when I was used to staring at her</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">in her uniform checkered school jumper</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">secretly looking up from the paperback </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I was hiding and reading at my desk</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">“Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes” </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and I knew she could perform miracles</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">raise me from the dead if she wanted.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMvW1un1_djjfiUFvMAW1hJ-Wkcy5wf4vNwNHhxGMf1mBLz_hjPST4tFeucRkCWh_rNEPVCSBA5RdtY8WT9yjeV7ljM6zKjVhmi-l7h9avhgCZTNlIsvHgPMXp43q7hgIc1oYocqTTOWXJ7LYSIck4qwODeXlAn42IxcAxj-XaKFYPEnsqgzibSAjLS0/s4608/Head%20Shot%20Glass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4608" data-original-width="3456" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMvW1un1_djjfiUFvMAW1hJ-Wkcy5wf4vNwNHhxGMf1mBLz_hjPST4tFeucRkCWh_rNEPVCSBA5RdtY8WT9yjeV7ljM6zKjVhmi-l7h9avhgCZTNlIsvHgPMXp43q7hgIc1oYocqTTOWXJ7LYSIck4qwODeXlAn42IxcAxj-XaKFYPEnsqgzibSAjLS0/s320/Head%20Shot%20Glass.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Mark James Andrews lives and writes in Metro Detroit. He is the author of five chapbooks,At the Ice Cow Queen on Mack (Alien Buddha Press), So I Lit a Fire for The Last Thanksgiving</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">(Alien Buddha Press), Motor City is Burning & Other Rock & Roll Poems (Gimmick Press), Compendium 20/20 (Deadly Chaps) and Burning Trash (Pudding House Press), as well as a</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">poetry recording Brylcreem Sandwich (Bandcamp).</span></div></div><div><br /></div></div>The Dope Fiend Dailyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10136327105500714877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-86848498023451558062023-07-10T12:04:00.004-07:002023-07-10T12:04:42.084-07:00Shruburban Apocalypse by Terrence Sykes<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">is there ever a good time for the arrival<br />of the catastrophic Apocalypse<br />perhaps best to wait until after tea time<br />for unfolding unknown Revelations</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />for there is laundry yet to be folded<br />that toilet in the den needs scrubbing<br />those library books are due tomorrow<br />should return the neighbor’s plasticware<br />forgot if the newspaper was brought in</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />already burned the supper casserole<br />so now is as good as ever for me<br />but before it all goes down and over<br />let me slip on something a bit nicer<br />don’t forget to change your underwear</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJS8MOZwNpdZNCyrMyz3HFwPQ4blhDoGj2YPuvpqRsNKjGc_lE69HGu09ZWU_21sogG7WEm88tc8IYl8VnRdTPN2nSPAkIxQQy_wU-SBqBKGcLsAO3UsdxBD_Yt835PccJEmpDMxk3vUyaNZA-b9sc7G058-TvnVlxqevn2oAcpZPJcJemmJtI5K-hbw/s2048/unnamed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJS8MOZwNpdZNCyrMyz3HFwPQ4blhDoGj2YPuvpqRsNKjGc_lE69HGu09ZWU_21sogG7WEm88tc8IYl8VnRdTPN2nSPAkIxQQy_wU-SBqBKGcLsAO3UsdxBD_Yt835PccJEmpDMxk3vUyaNZA-b9sc7G058-TvnVlxqevn2oAcpZPJcJemmJtI5K-hbw/s320/unnamed.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Terrence Sykes was born and raised in the rural coal mining area of Virginia. This isolation brings the theme of remembrance to his creations, whether real or imagined. Other interests include heirloom vegetable research & foraging wild edibles . His poetry - photography - flash fiction has been published in India, Mauritius,Scotland, Spain and the USA</span></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>The Dope Fiend Dailyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10136327105500714877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-29874617231626933872023-07-08T10:27:00.002-07:002023-07-08T10:27:21.520-07:00 Not a Fish by Susan Isla Tepper<div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-size: large;">Sex sells every product the ad manager tells me. But you already know that he says checking out my legs. I uncross them. Of course I do I tell him. He knows very well I’ve been in this ad game a while. What a dumb ass thing for him to say. I keep my eyes brightly wide and make sure my gums show each time I smile. Well good then he says. Then he says sex sells hemorrhoid cream. Hemorrhoid cream, yes, I can understand that I say. Ice cream too he says. Trying to bait me. I’m not a fish. Overall he’s pretty pathetic. Then again so is the ad game. So I guess that makes me pretty pathetic. All the garbage gets turned into pearls. Desirable. I can hardly wait to get home and take a good dump. See, I like my own toilet. What can I say? It’s my personal oddity. I am entitled. He’s staring at my breasts. I feel like saying could you sell these? They’re not twenty or thirty or even forty anymore. Genius could you sell these if you’re so damned talented?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTzjq6A4MD-qSun0d33YdhihMdF_C-5T_Mi3mEzCtIdSiyaPOKAehc5wzQICdlk5MzZPXwt7DD87J0yP2fpMmJt5TxOBTkNW6scv1KnQRj8lqvXmUZsxieIjZYHP7p1O7TsT6BRd6IKOooyTPFWD2JA1YRHLAuGkzeqPDvxXdjPp1EGI78qJZDfsX7L38/s160/Susan%20Tepper%202015.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="160" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTzjq6A4MD-qSun0d33YdhihMdF_C-5T_Mi3mEzCtIdSiyaPOKAehc5wzQICdlk5MzZPXwt7DD87J0yP2fpMmJt5TxOBTkNW6scv1KnQRj8lqvXmUZsxieIjZYHP7p1O7TsT6BRd6IKOooyTPFWD2JA1YRHLAuGkzeqPDvxXdjPp1EGI78qJZDfsX7L38/w400-h400/Susan%20Tepper%202015.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Susan Isla Tepper is a twenty years published writer in all genres. Her current project is an Off-Broadway Play on the subject of art and life.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div>The Dope Fiend Dailyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10136327105500714877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-61214311726411921862023-06-26T12:08:00.006-07:002023-06-26T19:28:44.274-07:00Upon Our Winter By JPR & Tracey Sivek<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBsWf4GSyzSskuTIPNxj5eStbPe8VcOff1Hqylvy55Stg6mgqH2oMJNYXgrsCBsBExFSWlyWmEykNnf_UKgcqnjZTmGUemH3irctoXdHzB_M7uHJZsHBzY-m0ERRZEKs0S4pk_8_sEILJBe6q83uLa5-RgiMv3-7ByJNTnlHt8OrdMKUQkTCOhqk5ws_o/s320/received_1006601330346061.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBsWf4GSyzSskuTIPNxj5eStbPe8VcOff1Hqylvy55Stg6mgqH2oMJNYXgrsCBsBExFSWlyWmEykNnf_UKgcqnjZTmGUemH3irctoXdHzB_M7uHJZsHBzY-m0ERRZEKs0S4pk_8_sEILJBe6q83uLa5-RgiMv3-7ByJNTnlHt8OrdMKUQkTCOhqk5ws_o/s1600/received_1006601330346061.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Seasons change hearts seldom ever do. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">There’s a bit of agony in that, moving through the minefields left behind as we seek so desperately to feel the sun. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">With memories encapsulated masked with our truths. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The trip was vacant as the sands that lay barren ahead. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">A wastelands postcard of sorted stories. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">We preferred not to pen. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Still it lingers in the caverns of the heart. Stillborn dreams with haunting void eyes. There will never be a more powerful apocalypse, </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">than the one we’ve created.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">We stand worn full circle laughing at the shambles of society. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Hells witness pairs greatly within your light.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi__GQp7j6y1Helfv5YvAOjAUdRLOec-c8e68RJ5fnTvHUcp6WzQpGLtVySekQ22wF4PCs03wviCET5noxMrRPiWaR7jzissAavk-oYljErnuHLm-7xfV0B9CTIRfsbG63DD3YDMzJrDyA1zLNlzYNVv7QdsbbercHZQMRLHE1k-2v4a3ukJ1D5jSakntM/s320/received_770413868100875.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi__GQp7j6y1Helfv5YvAOjAUdRLOec-c8e68RJ5fnTvHUcp6WzQpGLtVySekQ22wF4PCs03wviCET5noxMrRPiWaR7jzissAavk-oYljErnuHLm-7xfV0B9CTIRfsbG63DD3YDMzJrDyA1zLNlzYNVv7QdsbbercHZQMRLHE1k-2v4a3ukJ1D5jSakntM/s1600/received_770413868100875.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Tracey is a native of Northern Michigan. She has work on Writerscafe and Cosmofunnel. She is also the Author of "Zero Evidence of Life" found on lulu.com. Her publications include.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The Abyss, Under The Bleachers , The Rye Whiskey Review and The Dope Fiend Daily.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWx79-MB1TOTj3YPlI6Sw4wjrITvSzsjMtv-FOM344E7aGYDQfBGyfiQTwUr-6l2_Eqo0GqTKtl_lloBaLwLmisBM2tScIOkSUtt8ncYjzkZn_b2y8sVp6AEJJ4inl3pfEYgL5B_2DrDOjhsbjuZZhx89YkN2XVNy7ry4LSU-Eh989kMBM-ktdCRCIo2c/s1080/341069403_765262338321647_8463546812390749265_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWx79-MB1TOTj3YPlI6Sw4wjrITvSzsjMtv-FOM344E7aGYDQfBGyfiQTwUr-6l2_Eqo0GqTKtl_lloBaLwLmisBM2tScIOkSUtt8ncYjzkZn_b2y8sVp6AEJJ4inl3pfEYgL5B_2DrDOjhsbjuZZhx89YkN2XVNy7ry4LSU-Eh989kMBM-ktdCRCIo2c/s320/341069403_765262338321647_8463546812390749265_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">JPR is a southern gothic writer.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">His work has been published in Svartedauden Zine, Piker Press, It Takes All Kinds Literary Zine, Fixator Press, Spill The Words Press, Sava Press, Fearless Poetry Zine and here at The Dope Fiend Daily.</span></div><div style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></div></div></div>The Dope Fiend Dailyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10136327105500714877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-36891646317423391582023-06-15T17:49:00.007-07:002023-06-15T17:49:57.375-07:00Just Kidding by Toni Parisi <div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">I dialed a dumb whore up who really had been getting on my nerves as of late.<br />The automated voice on the phone said. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Sorry, but your call can not be completed as dialed.<br />I should of known you can't call yourself.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTrFM4ZS0wAyX5QOtpq9-Va3P2WFvU3d-WMpnEzbe6BGUdulsyHq7z4abDfHgdYGzUvYYvPGG2Kcj2OEd6cWO51w_vga_UmzmErvSGBFQeLil5jqX0Wn_rP4Q46-efe4M3i91A0tXIQhpy2mLgxXx4V05f4t1SlbqTwU-ZzGI8UG0GnQsVKrHDG9op/s487/20230608_011824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="487" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTrFM4ZS0wAyX5QOtpq9-Va3P2WFvU3d-WMpnEzbe6BGUdulsyHq7z4abDfHgdYGzUvYYvPGG2Kcj2OEd6cWO51w_vga_UmzmErvSGBFQeLil5jqX0Wn_rP4Q46-efe4M3i91A0tXIQhpy2mLgxXx4V05f4t1SlbqTwU-ZzGI8UG0GnQsVKrHDG9op/s320/20230608_011824.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-size: large;">Toni Parisi is from Alexandria Virginia she does not consider herself a writer more so a hot-mess that tries to write.</span></div><div class="yj6qo"></div><div class="adL" dir="auto"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /></div></div>The Dope Fiend Dailyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10136327105500714877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-53232643084538673642023-06-05T13:23:00.001-07:002023-06-05T14:00:59.977-07:00 I Drank The Kool-Aid By JPR <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For once, I believed the cup runneth over with shared admiration and over-inflated egos.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The poison is toxic upon every level, the addiction so very appealing as they all are.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was consumed slowly until I found myself equally amoungsnt those inwhich I did despise.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No truth needs to interrupt your delusion as we shun all those that bear the light of reality's stain.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, we hide as we decompose.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rotted in self-imposed exile buried alive in a narcissist delusion.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The window dressings allure seldom matches the truth protected behind a thin wall of glass.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This poison we share is a pleasant-tasting disease. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Are we broken or merely pleasantly demented?</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Allow myself to be within your depths so I can feel the emptiness within that's equal to my own.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are the nights burden alone a mass suicide's painted headline.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Too fractured to envision anything beyond the inevitable.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Did we not entertain?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxfWjSx_VFAsfYHhHdkbYcXwQQqenn1DVZI-62snPOzXK_wNgRtLDQJ8s3iv_YJqNiYIYXmT_qsisrbhfBnCuLhbap1nYYHsxr68Bcu_XIeruWoUeqfhZjAmpoXUxTohG_8a1WIQb2MhZfD31J1C-OvB3RjUro226O_VnwhmkTIXnBW0I5FkS-9YXWRw/s1080/png_20230605_155908_0000.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxfWjSx_VFAsfYHhHdkbYcXwQQqenn1DVZI-62snPOzXK_wNgRtLDQJ8s3iv_YJqNiYIYXmT_qsisrbhfBnCuLhbap1nYYHsxr68Bcu_XIeruWoUeqfhZjAmpoXUxTohG_8a1WIQb2MhZfD31J1C-OvB3RjUro226O_VnwhmkTIXnBW0I5FkS-9YXWRw/s320/png_20230605_155908_0000.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">JPR is a southern gothic writer.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">His work has been published in Svartedauden Zine, Piker Press, It Takes All Kinds Literary Zine, Fixator Press, Spill The Words Press, Sava Press, Fearless Poetry Zine and here at The Dope Fiend Daily.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p>The Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02373465203432008488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-61427937538221452302023-05-25T21:07:00.000-07:002023-05-25T21:07:23.623-07:00Slinkage By B. Lynne Zika<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each time he slips into my thoughts</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the projectionist rolls tape.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I might be wooing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the bottom of a box of Kleenex</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">or riding out the current tidal wave of pain.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Doesn’t matter. Estrogen floods my body;</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">video begins. He’s standing, his back to me,</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in the shower.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I slip through the plastic curtain</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and lean full-body against him.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I commandeer the soap.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The wet, white bar nestled in my palm</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">strokes a line left shoulder to right,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">then to his underarm, fingertips,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a slow glide to biceps, right shoulder,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">then back to center.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His left arm lifts to meet me.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It knows what’s about to come.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The muscles of his back are hardened</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">from running and weights,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">richly deserving their due.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so I trace in soapy waves</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">trapezius, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">latissimus dorsi,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">down </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">thoracolumbar fascia,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sweet.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A decision is required:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Advance?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Retreat?</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Care to vote?</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, only the left side</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">has been properly addressed.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Surely this conversation</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">should be continued.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Long</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sweep</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">up the right,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tracing in reverse order,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not quite so slowly.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After all.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am not a self-sacrificing creature.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I return to the lower back.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Have you any idea</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the things running does</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to the gluts?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Soap in hand, I…</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Really, I must stop now.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After all, this thing</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is only in my mind.</span></p><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuP9uK3JfU30B_gRBImQLlAifgS1MjqP1n4u8FdqqeOlxY-Usm72LAzqbzriJ7ExEAu1L320WIJnG6Jsvj1WabKINAy85MXARJ4nNYyVdVSmIMSHfxHpkgJDxN5ZY3FLdwoay53PWH8qKWVBRs1HbPCqEhNwhdD8Olyzn-GvNUOC3c0yKSt3qCbnXqaw/s2657/31402E5B-4A6D-4373-A0F8-E1E51D6207BE.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2657" data-original-width="2316" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuP9uK3JfU30B_gRBImQLlAifgS1MjqP1n4u8FdqqeOlxY-Usm72LAzqbzriJ7ExEAu1L320WIJnG6Jsvj1WabKINAy85MXARJ4nNYyVdVSmIMSHfxHpkgJDxN5ZY3FLdwoay53PWH8qKWVBRs1HbPCqEhNwhdD8Olyzn-GvNUOC3c0yKSt3qCbnXqaw/s320/31402E5B-4A6D-4373-A0F8-E1E51D6207BE.jpeg" width="279" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />B. Lynne Zika <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: justify;">is an award-winning poet and photographer and a retired editor of closed-captioning. Her father, also a writer/poet, bequeathed her this advice: Make every word count.</span></span></p>The Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02373465203432008488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-92010036869268911432023-05-08T11:51:00.001-07:002023-05-08T11:51:30.419-07:00Little Respect By Curtis Blazemore<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-66ac5c6a-7fff-b528-0a13-41ee8729236d" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Wake up this morning the ex’s stupid cat</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">is on my head, and I fart a warm wind</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">into the sails of my empty bed,</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">and I want some good goddam coffee,</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">but I sure as hell don’t want to get up,</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">have to make that hot black joe myself.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I think about all those dudes with wives</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">making them coffee right fucking now.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I think about this while Mister Bones licks</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">the fur around his kitty cat asshole—</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">all those wives, making all that coffee, me</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">without any sonofabitchin java at all.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Maybe I’ll get a gun at Nick’s Lucky Shot</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Gun Shop, start packing some real heat,</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">maybe quit work at the liquor store, hang</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">at the Soused Spouse Saloon with my alkie</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">homies, maybe shoot it up until some</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">bitches start cooking up some coffee,</span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">start showing a little respect, start asking</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">exactly what the fuck they can do for me.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hkxtw9omltqaIq3boyzPavbKOsJIykY4QmsuPZ0PDe0-JM0wn9azw8IQasacfRwaVOIezxXIQASq3qA5uUtv45uFhHSJpFlZ6hgqGFlrvqDB04hDxb8hxUvRl6mCIMFhDEo76elFmxe0CX226rdk_Hvk9NZBdQr7-aCh9EMkywp4ZP6sCdagtSqKHg/s779/rye-pic-small.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="779" data-original-width="580" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hkxtw9omltqaIq3boyzPavbKOsJIykY4QmsuPZ0PDe0-JM0wn9azw8IQasacfRwaVOIezxXIQASq3qA5uUtv45uFhHSJpFlZ6hgqGFlrvqDB04hDxb8hxUvRl6mCIMFhDEo76elFmxe0CX226rdk_Hvk9NZBdQr7-aCh9EMkywp4ZP6sCdagtSqKHg/s320/rye-pic-small.jpg" width="238" /></a></span></div><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: normal;">Curtis Blazemore has been on the planet far too long, publishing various works in between having bad luck and making people rethink their faith in humanity. No matter. He sees sentences in the exhaled smoke and scribbles furiously. He hopes someday to be able to afford a Greyhound bus ticket to Graceland.</span></span></span></p><br />The Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02373465203432008488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-78584264675835379882023-05-07T14:09:00.005-07:002023-05-07T14:09:55.778-07:00 Tentative Maybe Earthquake by Randall rogers<div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-size: large;">All a twist</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">knot fist</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">revolving</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">mass</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">gnashing</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">metallic</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">studding</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">tight rivet</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">piston</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">hammering</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">certainty uncertainty</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">reality unreality</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">in out up down</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">juxtaposition</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">me tittering.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">trembling</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">hold</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">here gone nowhere.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">flashing</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">heightened calm</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">dilating</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">evil</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">eye.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT3JbCoOb87OmCiMJ2SeQCgtkawWEtXoyy5N48-kYPaKaqQMW1G6hT2qyhzDTAzgDnpZlcexyNXYZct0ev6o61HVew1dDpL_hYYvHLeOI0Jpbc6ulOtdlgkVPyLy0BWSmkSYE2zjeEbo42lCG1v5mptqp2t23tZIeLplOH7Y12iWh20Qx08vsaP-Hh/s1280/WIN_20210308_19_54_17_Pro%20(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT3JbCoOb87OmCiMJ2SeQCgtkawWEtXoyy5N48-kYPaKaqQMW1G6hT2qyhzDTAzgDnpZlcexyNXYZct0ev6o61HVew1dDpL_hYYvHLeOI0Jpbc6ulOtdlgkVPyLy0BWSmkSYE2zjeEbo42lCG1v5mptqp2t23tZIeLplOH7Y12iWh20Qx08vsaP-Hh/s320/WIN_20210308_19_54_17_Pro%20(1).jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">He is Randall Rogers, visionary poet of the prairie. A cowboy, yea, a beatnik; a Beatnik Cowboy. He is an old young, sorry. Here he exhibits new work. More flashes in the pan. I hope the world, nay, you editor, approveth of seeth/something here. (Currently reading "Pilgrim's Progress") Adios! I kind of reworked these to work in booze but they are total virgins (never put out).</span></div></div><div><br /></div></div>The Dope Fiend Dailyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10136327105500714877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-20679797760910088562023-05-03T17:22:00.009-07:002023-05-03T17:22:58.625-07:00Paul Bearer by Wayne F. Burke<div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-size: large;">My grandmother died.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">At the funeral home I stood</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">aside from the crowd, hoping I did not</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">look like too big a jackass to</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">anyone.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">A guy I did not know</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">stepped up to me and </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">asked: "And you are?"</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">"Pallbearer" I said.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Afterward, everyone went to</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">my Uncle's house and</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">started to get smashed</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">in honor or remembrance, or</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">whatever, of my grandmother</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">who had been a raging alcoholic.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">"Hello Paul," the guy I did not know</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">said. "Hello," I said.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">My cousin Wally stole a bottle</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and he and I went to his room</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and drank it then had a wrestling</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">match and tore up half the room.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">My Uncle appeared in the doorway,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">a look of disappointment spread over</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">his red beefy face. He said that it</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">was alright to have fun and</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">even to raise some hell but</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">there was a limit to it, and</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">a guy had to know his limits;</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">he said that my father and he</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">raised hell when they were</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">young too but knew when to</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">stop: knew their limits; he</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">said my father (who died young)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">had been a tough son of a bitch</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and that he was a tough son of a bitch</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">too and that Wally and I were tough</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">sons a bitches, and his arm dropped</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">off my shoulder and he went</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">downstairs for a refill as Wally and </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I began to tear the rest of the room </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">up, and grandma </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">lay in the cemetery, no longer</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">to neglect or </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">abuse anyone.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGedIYDrDzO5l2rensA_1dCvfr2e5viTTtrVO5tGZ9F-IkxIvhbGH7m7llqSbxyWutiRuEjcyLvYD00uADT868Zh8RAl-jyvGxvB8AAmUHXJ0nLJjmPfLTl34rYUUW1XRsVxsnXZzbFXRK1orjMhQIiuIvLDNQ_cq0Di3gJItI-z7CwuKTl2eHgkA/s2640/DOC014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2640" data-original-width="2176" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGedIYDrDzO5l2rensA_1dCvfr2e5viTTtrVO5tGZ9F-IkxIvhbGH7m7llqSbxyWutiRuEjcyLvYD00uADT868Zh8RAl-jyvGxvB8AAmUHXJ0nLJjmPfLTl34rYUUW1XRsVxsnXZzbFXRK1orjMhQIiuIvLDNQ_cq0Di3gJItI-z7CwuKTl2eHgkA/w330-h400/DOC014.jpg" width="330" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wayne F. Burke's poetry has been widely published in print and online (including in THE DAILY DOPE FIEND). He is author of eight collections of poetry--most recently BLACK SUMMER, Spartan Press, 2021. He lives in Vermont (USA).</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div>The Dope Fiend Dailyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10136327105500714877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-39956098964451845082023-05-02T17:47:00.000-07:002023-05-02T17:47:07.127-07:00On Dad’s Birthday By Keith Pearson <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Everyone froze.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">The glass turned slowly</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">On its side.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">We waited for it to stop</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">But it did not </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Just turning there</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Slow and steady</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">On the smooth marble counter.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">‘Do you think it’s a sign?’</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Someone asked.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">‘It can’t be’ I said.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">‘He was always a glass half full</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kind of guy.’</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiESJCOayf5woh8FSw6Gzeo9qIPMscggqildUuY5xI1BBWIeoZvgoTrHSQxJ4neRh69b3ekvcDcNDlYTx7Bv9inRkyVZ5UCVTqbs9Tt8HnRoRKGh3g3N69L_iN3nGI4IBLH4Qy5REf-TbvVUReNFbIsYRNHmgfMkOcOBKwz8mzquOQCZuPtFW3p4GWRKw/s885/received_1303230273563715.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="885" data-original-width="653" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiESJCOayf5woh8FSw6Gzeo9qIPMscggqildUuY5xI1BBWIeoZvgoTrHSQxJ4neRh69b3ekvcDcNDlYTx7Bv9inRkyVZ5UCVTqbs9Tt8HnRoRKGh3g3N69L_iN3nGI4IBLH4Qy5REf-TbvVUReNFbIsYRNHmgfMkOcOBKwz8mzquOQCZuPtFW3p4GWRKw/w236-h320/received_1303230273563715.jpeg" width="236" /></a></div><br /><div><div style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">keith pearson was born and raised in new hampshire and works at a local high school in the math department.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>The Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02373465203432008488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-76363217409764582162023-05-01T11:47:00.001-07:002023-05-01T11:47:48.374-07:00A Trained Eye By Kevin M. Hibshman<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sedition seething in market square.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A boarded up bank.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A broken, battered ATM machine.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I walk the burned out street, passing the latest homeless camps.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The stained and ripped tents briefly remind me of the remnants of prayer flags flapping</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">earnestly in the faithless wind.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The old gods now drowned out by the numbing sounds of near-sighted construction,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">car horns, alarms that alert no one and sudden, startling shouts from a patient denied medication.</span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Circumnavigating a foreboding stretch of former highway,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dodging drivers who are most likely texting, keeping barely one eye on the road, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I pass the monolithic factory where wheezing trucks wait to be loaded with frozen meat.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We had to shelter in place recently when a cloud of wayward Ammonia escaped the plant to threaten</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">my unassuming neighborhood.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It takes a trained eye to witness any rewards of a life lived here in a discouraged part of town that tends to remain ignored.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis9ds5Fr4edqMpRGac9RBPya9Pswd_9o530qlsObnxtjb13NTSLcmsp-geoXobkY1OKno_9daiAv6ZgadlUMpky45i7L4byMWy6mbnNy71660GCILPhl9kwjBi_lzF3SBE-9-vSOuRTyHFh9Xvt8pSOdNuK62oxd-PMYiYsQgM-kHmQY_DVrn8yZ2QEg/s628/420591_10150857598929922_1310274633_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="628" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis9ds5Fr4edqMpRGac9RBPya9Pswd_9o530qlsObnxtjb13NTSLcmsp-geoXobkY1OKno_9daiAv6ZgadlUMpky45i7L4byMWy6mbnNy71660GCILPhl9kwjBi_lzF3SBE-9-vSOuRTyHFh9Xvt8pSOdNuK62oxd-PMYiYsQgM-kHmQY_DVrn8yZ2QEg/s320/420591_10150857598929922_1310274633_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kevin M. Hibshman has had poems published in many journals and magazines world wide.
In addition, he has edited his poetry zine, Fearless, since 1990 and is the author of sixteen chapbooks including Love Sex Death Dreams (Green Bean Press, 2000) and Incessant Shining (Alternating Current, 2011). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"> His current book Cease To Destroy is out now and available on Amazon from Whiskey City Press. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cease-Destroy-Kevin-M-Hibshman/dp/B0BYRCVHCZ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=cease+to+destroy+kevin+m.+Hibshma" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">https://www.amazon.com/Cease-Destroy-Kevin-M-Hibshman/dp/B0BYRCVHCZ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=cease+to+destroy+kevin+m.+Hibshma</span></a><br /></p>The Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02373465203432008488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-58104410936003656162023-04-29T16:48:00.002-07:002023-04-29T16:48:51.129-07:00How to Grok a Frozen Waterfall By B. Lynne Zika <p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-c9b910b9-7fff-5fbd-23ea-61193f83d593" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They’re quite like two men I know</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">who keep a steady rhythm:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chill, seldom prone to outbursts,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">could be mistaken for low throttle</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on occasion.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Odd they’re drawn to me,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a site of thunderous weeping</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and murderous applause.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikwaWu33BbTlbYYjQEHtVvwI6jHNektyG5-0LXDr8r29yKfg7z_DwIvC1E4ZyMBmt0qSbB7Je2Yy7OXzJEm91OLcCBOD8bqcZYdJ7K3n66uqxgFWnv7lFhWv5Uwc-8z2dJT8YubWsUHZCiyiNXjQp4GbLr2wWSOKTimK9H76D9cr2pjIBBZNK4Js_2/s2657/992769A4-7883-4C06-AE45-B2535BF75DDA.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikwaWu33BbTlbYYjQEHtVvwI6jHNektyG5-0LXDr8r29yKfg7z_DwIvC1E4ZyMBmt0qSbB7Je2Yy7OXzJEm91OLcCBOD8bqcZYdJ7K3n66uqxgFWnv7lFhWv5Uwc-8z2dJT8YubWsUHZCiyiNXjQp4GbLr2wWSOKTimK9H76D9cr2pjIBBZNK4Js_2/s320/992769A4-7883-4C06-AE45-B2535BF75DDA.png" /></a><br /><br /><br />B. Lynne Zika <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: justify;">is an award-winning poet and photographer and a retired editor of closed-captioning. Her father, also a writer/poet, bequeathed her this advice: Make every word count.</span></span></div>The Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02373465203432008488noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-66778761082763615982023-04-28T12:47:00.000-07:002023-04-28T12:47:01.206-07:00Whatever Gets You Off By Ashley Karlsson<div><span style="font-size: medium;">Is concrete of only your twisted understanding.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Somewhere along the way, I wish I could slap the bitch that screwed you up.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">That made you hide everything within.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">As I've known you for over a year yet still feel like I just met you.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The vault that conceals your truest feelings is a curse that pushes everyone away.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">As we lay together in those moments.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">I can almost feel a hint of something more than a moment's fling.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Was it the booze speaking or just a madman's pleas from his heart's asylum?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">All I know it exist for a moment, then is somehow suffocated.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">As you prepare to leave me more a mess than when you found me.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Your love is a sunset beautiful in its misleading promise of anything more than the long empty night ahead.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">But it's all supposed to be in fun after all, right?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">You say so much in silence maybe it's time for me to return the favor.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxmnslnE7Ht4sx-sbUKa740aZIBo4HfpuvzS_6cYxe37h6U0C3cyuzdvhB66F-p_7LhTcEphJOZk00rPdwlOYEB9FRINCKabg1R5KeQQgL2Wcc0S6X49iK2XDPfoysWIOYaLL7j-B5li8jpFlBIGsQqiEEiXJi537Forq7p2MPnO3kNWc-sn1JADTL1Q/s1086/FaceApp_1681916880739.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1086" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxmnslnE7Ht4sx-sbUKa740aZIBo4HfpuvzS_6cYxe37h6U0C3cyuzdvhB66F-p_7LhTcEphJOZk00rPdwlOYEB9FRINCKabg1R5KeQQgL2Wcc0S6X49iK2XDPfoysWIOYaLL7j-B5li8jpFlBIGsQqiEEiXJi537Forq7p2MPnO3kNWc-sn1JADTL1Q/s320/FaceApp_1681916880739.jpg" width="212" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Ashley Karlsson's work has been published in </span><span>It Takes All Kinds Literary Zine, The Rye Whiskey Review, Off The Coast Magazine, The Dope Fiend Daily, The Black Shamrock Magazine, Disturb The Universe and Death Nail Magazine.</span></span></div>The Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02373465203432008488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-63252700688574708192023-04-27T11:05:00.000-07:002023-04-27T11:05:00.375-07:00Janis On West 4th By Susan Isla Tepper Art By Digby Beaumont <p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMvqRsJD6T6LNqHdbes9k5l2TQvyEuW5tqm6aTqdbYUxdU9G6bEFKGmVqyClstrlmHmEvgTYAwA1oXfVgRvkn62CC7K-hGSbK7_jo9WXBnmKYECbAfUOV4zkW1Hlp8ttzvOiM_9QPqXdm3hN16xVpvzYm94p5fG7C2YHvEKLhusP9ngYdUxy220kd1Yw/s824/digby-beaumont-janis-joplin-2021-pen-and-ink-and-acrylic-on-paper-1.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="824" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMvqRsJD6T6LNqHdbes9k5l2TQvyEuW5tqm6aTqdbYUxdU9G6bEFKGmVqyClstrlmHmEvgTYAwA1oXfVgRvkn62CC7K-hGSbK7_jo9WXBnmKYECbAfUOV4zkW1Hlp8ttzvOiM_9QPqXdm3hN16xVpvzYm94p5fG7C2YHvEKLhusP9ngYdUxy220kd1Yw/w400-h264/digby-beaumont-janis-joplin-2021-pen-and-ink-and-acrylic-on-paper-1.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p> </p><div><br /></div><span style="font-size: medium;">Janis Joplin came to my place on West 4th a week before she died. She came for some dope, which kind of annoyed me. I had given up all that, except for the occasional brownie, here and there, which I liked along with a cold glass of milk.</span><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 28.9px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: medium;">At any rate, there was Janis standing on my front stoop looking like something the cat dragged in then didn’t want. I hate telling it like this because she died in a bad way. But she looked damned ugly and kind of dirty. </span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 28.9px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: medium;">“Doc,” she kept calling me, rubbing her scalp. </span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 28.9px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: medium;">“It’s Chuck,” I told her more than once. </span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 28.9px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: medium;">“Doc,” she kept saying.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 28.9px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: medium;">“Who sent you?” I remember saying; or something close to it.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 28.9px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: medium;">“Ain’t you Doctor Acid?”</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 28.9px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: medium;">It was Greenwich Village so that was almost a joke. Two feet away this guy was hawking passersby. Plus, she had a band. Why did she need to scratch around? She looked determined. I’ll give her that. Janis had this fierce determination that was kind of scary up close.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 28.9px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: medium;">“Can I have a ticket to one of your concerts?” “You mean like a trade?” She was pushing that mop of hair off her forehead. It was hot and my building faced the sun in the afternoon. That hair was so tangled I thought of rats living inside and would she even know?</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 28.9px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: medium;">“I don’t have any dope,” I kept telling her. Finally I sent her to Original Louie in the next building.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 28.9px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: medium;">“Which way?” She looked right to left up the street. Her see-through blouse had this sad little pink rose pinned on, some kind of paper flower hanging cockeyed so the safety pin showed. I could see her breasts sagging behind the blouse. They looked sad, too. </span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 28.9px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: medium;">I asked if she would sing <em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; line-height: 1; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Me And Bobby McGee</em>.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 28.9px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: medium;">“Man are you crazy or what?”</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 28.9px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 28.9px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="355" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh1eFwsNH23N7xHx1xDTM1Sn71LVCUBg88U_O2B6KSNqqjULg10gEuP-gDSV4wjgVi7muM3lB4ZP7wTDztpHpQDNVMKIF87fUnyuuU3bItU3TAQkHiQOl9aTX0dSyjbXQ1_IHPjIma18cOz6V0Vl6HuxtF1XtIvCvgRYbbNzv0Z3X09kYiEdurOFHZnA/w200-h200/Susan%20Tepper%20for%20Inquiring%20Minds%20Bookstore.jpg" width="200" /></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 28.9px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Susan Isla Tepper is a twenty years published writer in all genres. Her current project is an Off-Broadway Play on the subject of art and life.</span></p><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMFsqKYG-lmCXwoyHUXr3GhOO67XjPsThG3BF86bpII5MhEo55Q4c8nl8dxLTj0cAekHlLyVaJ65DqeSoXsJLds66R1mah2g9264JfmyiN2V6VixEG1tXfEnqsNazAhGxTgWUu-VQzRdAe-kwWKs1X5Grwl07VGg4WA0T0WO6r2Ot7QZURU8aJ8kI7lQ/s448/digby-beaumont-head-shot.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="448" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMFsqKYG-lmCXwoyHUXr3GhOO67XjPsThG3BF86bpII5MhEo55Q4c8nl8dxLTj0cAekHlLyVaJ65DqeSoXsJLds66R1mah2g9264JfmyiN2V6VixEG1tXfEnqsNazAhGxTgWUu-VQzRdAe-kwWKs1X5Grwl07VGg4WA0T0WO6r2Ot7QZURU8aJ8kI7lQ/w200-h200/digby-beaumont-head-shot.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><span><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Digby Beaumont</span><span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Lato, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; white-space: normal;"> is an artist and a writer. In his art, as in his writing, he is always exploring the idea of how best to produce some emotional response to the work He is a self-taught artist. An interview with him about his art plus a showcase of some of his portraiture feature in the November 2019 issue of the online journal, Tupelo Quarterly. As a short fiction writer his work has been published in numerous print and online literary journals and anthologies. His collection of flash fiction, one-page stories, Dancing Alone and Other Lessons, was released in early 2020. Digby has also published numerous English language textbooks with Heinemann and Macmillan, including international bestsellers. He lives by the seaside on the south coast of England. You can see more of his work on his website: </span><a href="https://digbybeaumont.com/" rel="nofollow" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s; white-space: normal;">https://digbybeaumont.com/</a></span></span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium; white-space: pre-wrap;">First published in The Galway Review</span></div>The Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02373465203432008488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1869836110528662311.post-17005483965080009482023-04-26T11:38:00.000-07:002023-04-26T11:38:56.017-07:00the first stab on innocence's cold body By George Gad Economou <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">at fifteen, I bought</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a fifth of Bombay gin, planning to</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">swill it down in a couple of hours, in between</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">coming home from school and before</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">my parents returned from work.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I sank half the bottle, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">got plastered.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I tumbled on the hallway, staggering against</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the walls. I put the bottle in</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a plastic bag, hurled it out of</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the window. aimed for</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the trash cans, it crashed on the</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">street.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I shambled to bed, slept</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">inebriation away. my parents never</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">found out; it was the day I embarked</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on the lifelong journey of destroying</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">my liver and liberating my soul.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I still recall the day I assassinated</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">innocence, proud for all the things</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(good, bad, and felonies) I’ve done that made</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">me the slurring man that just</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wrote this</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">poem.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU3aS1gNDZwDtQkCPIu0CLUy-tz0MGGf7TTPLdnLM8kXxXAh9sI2XrN615blY3e34uOUEJyEkuajxpsqQr0mKC4eWfNvdIf1rITAMCcSgvmgDwt1OyFb0alf0abl0_Ao7sXso30pD6KI_Pqqqn5-0YB0IyTEKH7mvXvxHwTjSCBi3H57ztJuehb6oxQA/s2816/George%20Gad%20Economou.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2112" data-original-width="2816" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU3aS1gNDZwDtQkCPIu0CLUy-tz0MGGf7TTPLdnLM8kXxXAh9sI2XrN615blY3e34uOUEJyEkuajxpsqQr0mKC4eWfNvdIf1rITAMCcSgvmgDwt1OyFb0alf0abl0_Ao7sXso30pD6KI_Pqqqn5-0YB0IyTEKH7mvXvxHwTjSCBi3H57ztJuehb6oxQA/s320/George%20Gad%20Economou.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: start;">Currently residing in Greece, George Gad Economou has a Master’s degree in Philosophy of Science and is the author of </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: start;"><i>Letters to S. </i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: start;">(Storylandia), </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: start;"><i>Bourbon Bottles and Broken Beds </i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: start;">(Adelaide Books), and </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: start;"><i>Of the Riverside </i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: start;">(Anxiety Press). His words have also appeared in various places, such as Spillwords Press, Ariel Chart, Fixator Press, Outcast Press, Piker’s Press, The Edge of Humanity Magazine, The Rye Whiskey Review, and Modern Drunkard Magazine.</span></p>The Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02373465203432008488noreply@blogger.com0