"I happened to myself in these very woods." -Joshua Marie Wilkinson, from Selenography

Marathon Man

There was a slow explosion

right behind me

I decided to run

and I left

the slow explosion behind

I met a woman

and had a family

and we got a dog

but then the slow explosion

caught up to me

and swallowed my family whole

I decide to run again

for longer this time

so that maybe the slow

explosion wouldn’t catch up again

so that maybe it wouldn’t know

where to find me

I ended up at the beach

and I bought myself a nice beachside

property and there were palm trees

and I drank daiquiris every day

I lived there for many years

until the slow explosion caught up

and swallowed the property

the drinks and the wait staff whole

I began to feel selfish for running

because in the chase

the explosion had claimed

so many innocent lives

so I faced the slow explosion

and noticed that it wasn’t an explosion at all

it was hundreds of trees

all growing like wild-fire

with autumn leaves that looked

like wild-fire

and they were all hungry for blood

they ate me up

and I became one of them

a slow exploding tree

and I was finally with my family

and the wait staff again

and we are all hungry for blood

"Baths are nice, I think. Marriage is nice, I think. When I die I feel very clean." -Adam Peterson, from My Untimely Death

A Game to Play

I sat down in the forest

and the bear sat next to me

we stared at each other for a while

then asked each other

how did you get here

at the exact same time

then we said

no how did you get here

no how did you get here

no how did you get here

at the exact same time

and tempers began to flare

the bear stood up to me

and I stood up to it

and we continued to stare at each other

I said

take off that mask

as the bear said

take off that mask

and he swiped his paw across my face

as I grabbed his face and pulled

behind his bear face

the bear had my face

and with my mask gone

I revealed my bear face

I knew it

we both said

I’m sorry to disappoint you

we both said

we sat back down

and watched the world burn

"I crawled under the table to pick up my to-do list & when I did I was completely alone." -Mathias Svalina, from Destruction Myth

Perspective from Below

I’m sitting in a room

and the walls and ceiling

are coming in to crush me

I’m not sure about

the technical aspect of this

it seems like an architectural

marvel of some sort

I should compliment whoever

built this house

to always be dark

and to have a room to crush

when the walls and ceiling get

in close enough

when the time comes

I think I’ll put my arms out

and I’ll bend my head

to the side

and push with my legs

against the floor

either that or I’ll curl up

on my side and rock slightly

it depends on how brave

I’m feeling when the time comes

I can’t see the room really

it’s far too big

it’s walls are somewhere

over the horizon

the ceiling is somewhere

far above me

but it’s there

I’m sure of it

and it will crush me one day

"I appear, the thought appears: quark." -Heather Christle, from The Difficult Farm

Bad Breath While Laughing

I opened my big mouth again

and a little sparrow flew out

it was flying and beating

like a heart beats

and I clutched to my chest

I opened my big mouth again

to call to the little sparrow

to come back that I

needed it

and two more sparrows flew out

both inhaling and exhaling deeply

the three sparrows fluttered together

and began flying away

and I began chasing them

every time I call out

more sparrows fly out

each mimicking some sort

of internal organ that’s vital

one gurgled like my stomach

another churned like kidneys do

I want to stop calling to the little sparrows

but I just can't

I’m still chasing the sparrows

and still calling after them

and I’m not sure what’s left in me

but I’m waiting for that last sparrow to fly out

and grab me by my shoulders

to fly away with my hollow body

"Money, fuck you. you don't really exist. I take it back. I need you to ravish me." -Matthew Rohrer, from A Plate of Chicken

Let’s Get Something

In a minor setback

we were lost at sea

it happened in a moment

a boat sank

a plane crashed

that doesn’t really matter

we happened upon an island

and I tried to convince you

that we were completely marooned

when the tugboat came

to take us to the other

side of the river

I refused

I tried to convince the tugboat

driver that we were completely marooned

he told me it was only a few

hundred feet more to the other side

I was convinced he was a mirage

and that the other side was a mirage

and now that you must have been

a mirage

sure that I will die soon

I send you short messages now

I put them in a bottle

like I see them do in the movies

O how my ribs scratch my lungs

O how it makes my voice raspy

O how the needlepoint needs straightening

"You are a brave little boy or girl" -Zachary Schomburg, from Scary, No Scary

Simple

There’s a ringing coming

from the inside of the house

it isn’t from an appliance

or from the newborn baby

or from the family dog

it’s coming from the room

at the end of the hall

the one that’s always dark

and that you can’t see

because it isn’t really there

the ringing is

coming from there

To Start a Blog--To Catch a Loaded Otter

I've done it. I intend to share my poems, maybe funny pictures, maybe thoughts, but mainly poems. Enjoy, whoever happens upon this.

Jefferson’s Joke

I sit on top of the hill

in the darkness

and it smells like summer

so I roll up my pant legs

and begin skipping around

the top of the hill

and singing nursery rhymes

that I don’t quite remember

so I make up most of the lines

Jack and Jill

went to the paper mill

to catch a loaded otter

I encourage the others

to skip but they don’t

do that sort of thing

they say

they also say

that’s not how that goes

in regard to my nursery rhyme

it’s no matter though

it smells strongly like summer

and I’m glad that I could

roll up my pant legs at least

I’m a new type of animal

that you don’t know about

because I don’t exist

yet

you can sometimes see my shadow

it fits perfectly inside your shadow