text || Peter Ganick

from random and ransom

this section for billy bob beamer

17] trail winnow seize orsa pivot cerise parochial yet nave into mollusk umbrella immolate engine also voila official pinecone dapple regenerate macaw smiling eachness withdrawl versify icon lira blotto snicker assignation utter assail vend release periodic mnemonic cadmium replica ternary immediacy prelude iterations elite vanguardism presumptuous delay hospitality vessel evidencing filibuster either wanderers sidebar mosquito curvature opaque meddle circle anvil coefficiency premotion before othering thought ensemble troubadour excision trend siphon errata sleep hurried small terrestrial convenience gratitude oracle inequal goiter wanderered heretofore initialize meddle oceanside wanderer versus mallet brimfuls unknowable refuse nominal ciliate northerly anchor improvise remedy acme esplanade overy curate neon prasada vineyard feint steerile recursion perprimand barter shellac peregrine slight evanesce thorough innuendo epaulet reunearth neither oases negotiator announce silences essence terraplane joplin vestigial scrip tilt evidence territory focus elite mechanism eel return locust trickster icicle anima scree nothinged anglaise network osmosis trounce alveoli curtail escadrille pepper snafu nebbish err anomalous greetings elixir snapdragon neither widers deluge premode sitting opener systematize down peeve nimbus celerac erewhon threaded styrofoam numerator enigmata thirst escadrille panache harpoon slight named ethereal sojourn evidence magnet coven nictate mob sites nuisance escape nano greek serum peccary notion least variegate masala viewpointism essence imbibe alongside contrasting dotted liaison permute algae surpassive laissez divot cellwise waver snippet removal payback realitize ensign bargain slithy nominus edifice aporia essent occasional bewared masquerade tripartite nerve aileron essence contrary nimbus urreal immerse llama istic vehicle dance neomancer lotto surgical restitution camouflage impend asleep curvature liter sterile ironic stigmata elude notifications empire steed engage ironic deluge aegis modes emmanate scaling pared size nominal scree additive wallabe integral sniffle alias hybrid other sibilantine motif smarmy oversight curlicue happiness jolly elide nay saith gentile noise settle harpie node dimensive alt valid genetic reiki anchorate micean burlap oceanic sudden aisle conceive reach signatory eddy snippet remake odalisque parameter vernal numb tire chocolate ladder inordinate emollient conway aside partook tanker snowfall unglue styrene cake nibbhana energy volitional nimbus retaliate suffice sleight epaulet fluid resistor vehicular preparative mellow feed sniffle acme parallel chorus deterrence account millefois derivations slung pursuit esophagus stroke hiccup factor delay correcting slightly foible tressle arch topical engulf region array colonial precedent smartphone parrot every listener nostrum nominal chock burin lacuna nature noes geranium heal densest vehicle sign oblique farming storages either wassail prenatal iceberg overhaul strand iseult penchant foment lastly aforementions leis confere lasso harmonic document tuner assure jel gestate meddle nominal insiders alto iseult burma shapeshifter evince snagged bitumen silences deterrents vielle camper osprey iffiness scree however patterning wooden chorus delicacy clamor requisite venn dilatory expulsion veep connote qi neither slack juniper willow prerequisite narrow stickpin evidencing relax iffiness weekend surrey connote structural implexy contrastive emplot various oddity steep enroute sandlewood next chase product envision gurreleider implexy listed moviegoers mattering slip aside metier smorgasbord outre hangnail nil snore neither wooden iseult crosswise thorough elsewhat precious threading essence cereal pincer haptic oeuf virgule matinee stump deep range sedimented arrow hurdle somber isness wand separatist local doppelganger radian sturdy precedent simpatico tritone microphone sluice asana motion listen continue etc etcetera network unclear genera oomph settler essence pesto vanishing pretense nominal choker jettison denial eon tetra itemize needed lasso rename collider readership engulf bulletin ipseity grammatical tartan runner histrionic elsewhat brighteyes leis reuters machinic evidence roulette ebullient cartouche fading sturdy grunt nazz boorish steeply candlepin nimbus rationale.

3 poems || Felino A. Soriano

of supposed knowing

a language cannot

            teach nor tamper with

vocal sameness                        amid a strong

breath vacuum

disallowing splaying spray-form

fundamental alterations

                                                            to

develop enveloped stylized

notions of the eventual

paradigm becoming

unbroken contour                    memorized

space and its articulate provocation

seeing light involves a beyond-rendition of vision’s topical infatuation: depth or,

more so positional balance must lean toward the onlooking spectrum of definitional clarity

of watching Monk

said this watching may mesmerize

truth

will encourage differentia

yes

will become an etch of prolific camaraderie

sustained

                                    thus, in the moment

of elongated hearing a

version of specialized becoming

interprets                                 sound

in the analytic consideration of     tone’s

intuitive genius

poem || John Crouse

SONNET

Haddock Paperclip Schema Shiva Dingbat Reiki

Maslow Surfboard Grange Millennialism Spunk

Zukofsky Laudanum Virginity Zen Gelding Stuttgart

Oxalis Stevedore Harelip Fracas Bandstand Hospice

Satisfaction Combat Chalice Fresca Quinine Muhammad

Daft Sebadoh Shibboleth Titular Grunge Chrysalis Padlock

Aardvark Roddenberry Broadband Handjob Auspices

Nerval Wombat Fresco Polysyllables Prefab Breakdances

Blabbermouth Foxing Mishmash Cicero Accredited Circe

Fretboard Chopper Skunk Ipad Digitalis Montaigne Graft

Kraftwerk Faust Sawtooth Fistula Petroleum Skyscraper

Batman Chrysler Chomp Krishna Zizek Shivaree Zit

Bowels Kipling Stutter Bluetooth Splurge Hack

Hallowed Blubber Archangel.

2 poems || John Pursch

Speedo

Suppose ethereal mappings gag on smooching gofer entanglement, portending marmalade injunction guff for every sidelong flap of border phalanx basketball gist, disguised as geyser control singalongs. Tucking into a pint-sized idiosyncratic whistle’s humdrum nonchalance, one might then steer somatic ritual creeks toward perambulating osculations, signing in with floorboard tonsillectomy pauses, hoping for striated foam goulash after teensy corsairs imbibe umbilical flotsam on emerging peach tree gams. Shape up, prognosticating cellist, before an ursine wrister dribbles oily swarms of surreptitious tubers in praxis unbecoming androgynous micturition, scaling brain spigot cilia to sighing crater counters, soiled by omnidirectional abstraction’s porcine wharf. Have attenuated sidereal vines culled escrow bleachers full of peeling symbolic fracas geeks, circumscribed by comical asparagus adjustment? Wells humbly burble reformed fissure codes, ringing soused barrier flippers of sheepish shark alacrity beneath a grieving ruminant’s elliptical soy lament. Officials hover in sprung helmet antitheses, tweezing pluperfect shims aboard a spindly iceberg’s mincing actuarial phlogiston retainer, scouring spittle for afterthoughts of creamy shrunken hesitancy’s sliding scream. A nation’s injurious eyes twirl sternly disregarded follicles to tensile crowd noise tallywhacker fog, pickling stupefaction’s oligarchical whaling kit in moody propeller amethyst for cinder collectives, peering into puckered hamstring beauty slop locales. Suffocatingly delightful cessation simps opine blithely in pavement’s sacrificial monotony, stunningly mortified by lossage festival reticulation, thwarting shackled mastiffs within rabinnic seedlings of peritoneal impudence. Drayage honors seraphic broadcast choirs before enticing quadriceps to chain slinky blurs to sundry spore acuity’s bulimic casement, muffing crab leg nods in side street sanctuaries for the blonde. Heretical seers euthanize the dead, palming rhetorical sunfish in dusky eyeball speedo trysts, evaporating heckled dim sum attics of thermometer sand. Foyers frighten mucilaginous pothole temps from oven entrée tiptoes, dressing zany festers of mottled carob hellions in sofa parts of flack toast spiracles. Putative chrysanthemums christen huddled Samsons with hieratical fig disease when fedoras refuse corroborating assonance in maypole fire’s affiliated slur. What stream tangles canned cuddlers with hoagie saddles, raining docent febrility on myopic laundry’s hazily trained cravings? Given hobbling fury’s pedantic grillwork spars, hominy triggers lap dance petroglyphs along rethinking riffles of pilloried sediment, backing drowned holy stamens till charge resection nihilists proclaim an ambushed courtesan off limbo vouchers, saving palaver for maudlin mustard tea.

Paleruda

Auctilontabular spooglediefrong, quecibian flodgle dehoutiot whoodle falang, esiepiet schephtioud whemptian proctyl, falormian plexitat cymbriot bremptioricity spatil. Excrumientle plon borphiaser whelt, ogzumien spubentle whogt egruphiacter blostiormegle plocter crong, sliptiof eppel engtufielioch slimb, echoup frotie paloujel socht, aquenty marouper zieprenian loxi calabian ries. Orchl, kaisaieth entocular brulocrast, earsiezentle fredolochtiest hajartle whielg, esplougie barmouthed quogplod nermibiam squilt, untecku monsattle pren celgian dobble, ophliestious samertigochter mern holligockle hechtonspry somsed quare soggle. Abiliom epchilant balouzen phlackem trempsie, farbemichtel predolousiam ceptio haechture, oblequedon smoudle, gestreminore balestichop troglar, isphelt razen cabble amphulous hedgerprosty sceptart mounchekop soublemopheiger. Ghour floghian stentorobilam queliop scoum, plumptangerous mouchtie sproddle hefter pastil baschouth carks, spra phidoner bruxial emphlod, tarsilimanitude ploxie mephoucle sploth cerplisamifuen choapotch whoumer flegstobial hegglemochter. Sparcrainier depsomentioch cougle, epouma sloubafiamiet talorp, trulpoonen escroudet leertine aberklar pheltersparzle hottledefrocht noc mepsiodicher floupel ontamian chesorbioph troudle. Clouscemiapht quemodie phletcher, eistrupaliob gizenorod messore; paleruda septarindia umochtio progger destroniamus pregulomut quelt, carrediaddle plot stranchifuss pleisekad heirvuoulfie nougle. Escardions parsty lespunkien loughand bredobtial triesope clogh, drilpodet smochtet arouiam aiscraph kniech.

text || Edward Nichols

from Trilogy of Infamy

     Krongelletted unmittledlated retallibated cornanated fromature.Twastured zorerunes cromulate akrozeau deau fealleds offened troshenladed bromentures offen toaden stuellettes grogenened tropenturedly.

  Krodedly cronspentures extroplulate akrossull thead fleetgene gromenslated averdures overnenes trompshires gallunesly questunlating deaucah tredures athen thueah Kronedated ependires,fromulated adshurately ashly asenly cannedly beebly. 

         Rekentures rammudure cramovore deauah rickenshired golshened brenthly peerahmiddle offen deauah whorled.. Oinely onainely wherled  orerdedly. Redardedely kortetely cornelled orneddely cremutely, tredered fretures cornelled orneddely cremutely, tredered fretures enklutened gloatened cloeruned, gornertured, quasumed, slekluned. Motoned relaned teturennodly retruded, tinturesured atchered zlonkled eanech ayley cudneyed frokmure pletkurned dedlacedly blutenated.

--

     forglottenall aye boutette,thley slushley woken up in sleepily. Canasherable flutesteps twere staken slowly as they roamed aronde the room. Gladely fondling his pipe on the floor, he lit it up again, an puffed asway. Pulladaded rimrose over the dolphins Finns again awoke from the ashen vision and  Shemmied back down from the funeral pyre to land in clonicalwise fashion at the hallroom of crovices. Betwixt the twain of railleyment heed buttered his toast to the flag withamelted cheesey grin.

         Properly condoning the fragments of hall lucid dairey products, he landed on the path of the Civil Outer Road.All drolled up he found at his bequest a disheveled lendry mark,and, prodigously consumed encapsulated fruition upon arrival. Contrived hijinks speculated on the fromature of his vestment. Golden slumber slacks feeled his head and he gallavanted with the sloppiness of it. Wrecktumelated in the Shemmy pipe he osdanced a closure on conclusion of the encounter width the Illuminati,and, Tenfold they twere seated round the table. 

              Selderly freyed he cupolaced a portion of bulging boldice and spurkulated the outcome. Only the condlentation of retentment  opionated his bravura to the outlast of the utmoist jaundice of rejuicement.

poem || Jeff Harrison

Perry Rhodan

citizens, raspberries, sick as a dog -
must this be spelled out for you Perry Rhodan


OK, then, scintillating Helluva:


1. accidents occur in NORMAL time

2. double-takes occur in SPIRITUAL time

one will give you a slice of glass
the other may give you the whole story

both are a PUDDING of illegal authors


(maps, budgets, biometric ghosts)


handkerchief full-bore, intolerable & mercenary
astrologically cranial, you, Perry Rhodan,
borrowed the skinniest for a second without so
much as a "wonderful money, you are are one
tough lady" & were promptly scooped, confirmed,
& dialed, sensibly, without so much as a "the
audience is my kind of town, leave no doubt"


cut to CHOP SMILE PATTERN ALWAYS


"objection, Your Honor, my knuckles show white"

"sustained"


this still-life is hard to explain, the next
still-life is missing to this day -
infrastructure! over and over!


"a hint?"

"thirty-seven hours"

"ah, say no more"

3 poems || John Pursch

Tentacle Souffle

Hobbling from common praise recusal to compost help rotation moths, mainstream birds mechanize a rainy delicatessen raid, plopped in lightly soiled piranha salt. Firebrands emerge from tensile portion runes, selling numb menus in homespun country dungeons, feeding crabs to schoolyard blondes. Lefties flash intrepid meals of bounty waist tureens, slopping tentacle souffle in snuff edition turpentine, jacked ejecta notwithstanding posture’s aging equatorial surprise. Perfect shins defy the bluesy gunny sack’s remuneration cliff, chirping trial moods when threadbare grottos cable titular abandonment, halfway to a shiny frog. The changeling charts uncounted trolleys filled with shrunken limburger, itching for sanctioned geldings, peddling fluid wingmen to tub serenader stiffs in jousting havens. Safely teased prosthetic stupas bait quarry mulchers, smirking before split-screen birth patrols can immunize traced helmet antlers, defying us to cascade entendres. Turbid herbivores shake dripping monocles at seedy glancers, remanding thermoplastic blots to darkened bailiff whimsy drills, only to pickle effulgent hysterics in symptomatic nostalgia grief. Heavenly feelers disinfect our mental statutes, torn to pickled action dumplings, plied to piecemeal hope by dryly panned ulterior chopstick gruel, served in pipettes tweaked with razor belt stroganoff. Pallor identifies with shady crowbar overtures, dancing down simplistic verandas, flushing homeopathic rituals from cloaked sanitation wheels, frosting continuity’s thinly valued hostage sauce, crimson and spoken freely by a trillion feral thongs. Bonked by fading isthmus quotients, handymen curtail a lanky Muscovy duck’s palatial embalming goo, warping eyeballs into tepid overhang injection smiles, feeding head cheese cauldrons to viscous tangerine refractors. In faucet spurts we seize defrocked attachments, peering into basal plumbing toes from sequined scarves, timed to axle triumphs and mirthless flicker-team derision. Even soapy tribal shouts immerse credential casualties in gruesome stellar heels, powdered daily by historians, melting into sidling trapdoors, hip to sweltering mechanical fleas. Seedless toupees argue off course, deporting shelved anachronisms to walled-in shoe trees, heaving pyloric nativity’s effervescent crawling code, conveying bimodal suction clout to cruising tank trap joy.

Jerousaphlagon

Leffer pon gailieth blundy 

woathier crescoupi chom 

treganie stirpode mearniam 

astercronduphial septorancie 

dwango promief-tiquot oaskraipie 

bloneth clouramiegh chweeper 

sleewt hemonker frok. 

Grefter heronck quer shivonia 

dreidrofenzie esterma perphocktie 

perzamigon wheybuliar monosticle 

fliawap draiven geloutie schroopie 

almerton ershickle quimestriorgle 

prongwair cobomie dute. 

Schemties vievanderlem croaphiatrium 

en joudeliom semple harsprougim, 

encalcliat strectuph jerousaphlagon quelth, 

gleven heimer eiflen toudar maboum.

Etherdrubble

Hoctobrilion hoodgle, pron moutenbocktle erlio fenterien meapre stopht, quencie wocker broation joubientondre spem erochtioch prendiphlom kestriar, breit ougion charaph tieflopper grestior arachiost ephru, oriam stridgulous whiet chamenture. Plogiarentine umestio crophdar plench, quespie procktien odgre, garamistia zoradie spotch, couble noupian eriosamial protchet quom, crouphetious horogastle bronk, archi ecturomitous spiedri goffet chemtufrop, arspie denumus broculup aspiertle uloppie schouldge, quaffer quentian moftie jouble, espriemiotch aschoudgem tarief bromile, eidier slocky rultenguous clentian yupargoss stroumle grefut crosp. Hagule, stiriam precterosper; aguentine emortuogle bronez espucher sancrostium bleazioch martumius, shoa franiup gospho podgie. Sceptian bromut choup, getranchian astermopiet uphrogio questerprod arigarfolia tespra erochiotion amodile charius aliunfrigh heberomonsul lotch. Garfian cresairiod chemosidon yutiomite brospe, garum tra harchiontre oomple iphtiad orgonicule, stelfing wharted baidomugel chroftar benni velionspet atch, gereyeme sapydous hermologue, shoculept ewenchu lysomandle tural mith digniam wobunt deriojus derfel, thiafaw ointip stocdo lerifun shtom. Berien crondufle kensian kreap, demars borfemiat eccophter wen, serpo siguhon etsariover pretiot os garbian phruckle, yebodie detaen chropioch saraphratem kewile. Tighs prenocht yomonesdeutlit flophum grosch, esubok lefemal swoun, sogolod escien mool. Sonchi didular leasch shilkagiar yerp garom, masarisat espind etherdrubble assion oxden tronal vagulance ictir appur belparam ev, loole munarihot reinogef cilion kown, yawel dicient dogoand oliames tranisam mothasket poss, treenef stiaching prave eslorec gebiandie aspion loagivorin dilfen lujy therm, ukelog nuferowked lourt um saidevour wharding diseou nopske.

2 pomes || Billy Bob Beamer

POMEfr pocketsleep 

72 wiz ed ma so

 now not in shall

 his be werk

 re shiv nerneark, c

b the starlawn trillllle

e e d deth who lean       s

 

73spar ke  oan      wat er-s      

 

raid of o mon buz zbro

werk ba nin ord ataum

&the laus grall shal lsee

 

[trom bonaboabay sitar

                                       that

 

74wu raprise butwo tarser wise

 sha le gro this eeld he the eoke ir

ed eth bime preat ther sethma on th

eirsew ursla in e no buildre  choll th what

ho led be beg jenrael. &thishal lowgenes b

e lifer brest up fleater &spir hols theysheysurs

75am   en tre kaz redgiklan knortuio    ‘s  norein thfoam’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*pocketsleep

*

POME*us[ta ]ran[ou al]e ke[v[st]anu] a ter[thur] ne[pre] na[lub] am[etr] yin[k]sova[ 

pil]in[ůe]o[onie]n e   m[eb o]kol[in co]ti [e]dla]e[k]la[ adar]moia[isor]n [rosp]hem[ aro]do 

lo[lo]g rans[fo]r]m   a[   n ]tika[ vů]bec[   pat]r[no]n[ go]l[s y a]bal[y na]fo[d ]bro[er p]rot[na] 

ril[lian]co    es[m]rad[la a]tuch[l op]anco[va]n os[mi]ck lo[di ]e la[t ic] se na[pk]lad[ ct:] 

el[esa]su[e t]o   o[ sis]ta[i po]tren[ by]cho[ ak] lid[ny al]il [div]le o[vi  o    o   d]uto[ a    t]er  

en[ te   m o]van[m    ol]em se[be[ak] dob[                           ] *

*

*                         

text || Lewis Gesner

from Imperfections of the Bell

loaded outwardly inner repair history through the deliverer can see out over the grass while the digestions are changing the tactic through the plain, dispersed as the nodes are, each ending in its influences just as others are beginning having placement and an equal range the mater tea thin strains assert to do to gain reed supported through two mouths, and a wood sounding voice iron and nickel saves halves controls one feature as better friends wraps and rolls around feels for the starting smoke still without the opening others often watered by the fainted food hatch your plan or hatch your fish peels bay brief meter change the supposed were caked to the ceiling revert to the coin and metal base two the faces on the pole retire where is the management there is a spill beside the truck port sour versed precision inoculated trapped is there access to the rooftop first one limb emerged, and grew a spell, and then another, but as if belonging to another, with a different character growth rate hair and thickness, and, instead of having outward turning or bowed as one, the other you might call knock kneed inwardly in substantive ways each building has it, one per side, a variation from a different seeding has been cause of separation has a cloak and a travel range, outside of Europe approach but not design, tomorrow altered by the scope of the void allowed within the personal catacomb it is in a grade as is that of coal or silver in its ore with the difference that it is not so tangible being sleep related and heavy in the bag loads being the only containment it recognizes spins include a bed, a room, the floor, the road ahead very long and brittle strands which try to attract each other through the color phasing of the squid which has been copied from ocean voyage experience one apart moves more or less to the right direction in a level environment beneath the hatch on the floor in the kitchen find the bottle oil administration before removed gears were mixed and reset making up a clumsy clock was found living decades in the porch swing unnoticed like on these ruin in retrospect creeps around the filter unaccounted for and absent spasms promotes to the front ailment spoil from the treetops there are mystic templates from an early Christian period it was also a strain of supposing vegetation just as there are vertical runners on the sides of new buildings slotting them for tracks or enabling their snap into place together in the backdrop perpetual drilling not a language though first the twitch of the leg, then the slip which prescribes the fall behind the balance organ is an iron level the two combined create a scheme of dance step forcing us into a monotonous loop until mass shrinkage and withering away while speaker trucks approaching fill the wilderness with low fidelity and crackling of electric storms and the arc between the dwelling and the foothills with one core the opportunities are pushed apart acid excrement has filled the ponds and currency elastic binds the plank from which the barn composed itself far in past the ivory curtains there are pests that burrow through the dashboard and your thigh converts from mossland burial to lime pits and a barrel haven perplexed remotely they had shut down lungs in else behalf and pumping wind sounds the walls are reinforced and the hydraulics basically are duplicated wrists as much as any self-proclaimed suitable for a war of plastic dolls pleased to take apart the parts the parts remained but smaller pieces the concentration in the tiny vial he was rounder before he entered a more nervous life removed representation in the end had girdled abstract thought the combination of the liar and the gullible spells for vision confer the stomping sound and the broken mountain in piercing knobs three more claims pass through the gate the doors sealed off the intersection post drama of allotment stapled down the purse and melted the trophy sly time and convalescence makes the mind goes out but last longer in combinations predicaments of character and nature in a necessary force feels the contrast to the lawbreaker and the exception always must find except planned the links across the hall and I can hear piano next it should be my son and chaos penetrates the wall or jazz bland by stated conditioning in the balcony they finally found the fur pad all the darker print parts are blossoming now, the gray has more become the stitched air there must be a trial for collateral what gongs tie to temple task and preoccupation how the rounded wood fell divining glaring statues in the rows over nature sear their brows the staff was warned off waiting as the stationary pooled their fluids, and the varicose declines return had never counted me while reading over shoulders and tadpoles suicide inside the pump so grace the passing with a song deflected punches from

poetry || Glenn Bach

from Atlas Peripatetic

Lay yourself down before us.

Cut across each other like wings opening.

Lead the blind to the sea,
forage for insects
near the old house with the dusty
sills and sagging windows,
summer heat on the seat
of the chair.

Whiteread’s negative space
manifesting—


                    —metal gingerbread man.


                    Opening volley of steam.


                    Performance stage w/ hand-decorated lights.


                    Some respects of the splint,
                    some twitchy metal noises.


                    Sloshing becoming waves.


                    Whispering waves of winged beings.


                    Opera smiles all coming together.


                    Small dried flowers.


                    Sintered metal carbides.


                    The blanket of calm, the sharp bone,
                    the spartan chamber.





These chairs hold 500+ lbs,
hold everyone.

++++

from Atlas Peripatetic



                              

                                         haven




                                                                              angry knuckles stand

                                                                    hooks





                                                                                                    tailgate as table




                                                                                                    truck-buddy
                                                                                             of zippers







                                                                                         mold that made the dark


                                                                            skin
                                                                               trundle



                                                                                             yawn


                                   best defense against losing yr body

poem || Sheila E. Murphy

One Big Happy

Chivalry portends chivaree,

entonces, la libertad, as we have

known it [equals

among equals] fallen prey to

“Let us”

ponder yonder

underneath

the big blue bodice

of humidity, whose dignity

mirrors docents of propinquity,

who hold up images

of prior thought,

and what was thought,

some Carolinian defection

to the mood ring
of ulterior motives in the anterior?

short story || Lawrence Upton

Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great was eating a great burger, a really large one, with onion and Kings' Relish, it was great, when he had a great idea.

As luck had it (and, as Little Flower once said, that lady always does), he had some great friends right with him; and he told them his idea and they said that it was a great idea. So it was that they took Catford, to protect the racing dogs from exploitation, and went on to conquer Antioch and all the other great cities on the way between the Baltic and the Mediterranean.

It was around that time that he told those near to him that he wanted to be known as Little Flower. You what? laughed his catamite, so Little Flower killed him.

It was great sticking the knife into him, said Little Flower, the resistance of flesh and, more so, of bone; and then the deeper plunge inwards, now unopposed; and the blood rising in a small brief strong fountain.

Others were more circumspect, yet still querying and worried.

Little Flower gave them each one of his great looks, you know, the fierce and creepy look; and all complied.

That was how his biographer, Harry Ann, said it: they complied.

I have a great idea, said Little Flower, one day in Baghdad; and he'd already forgotten the fun of Antioch. We need a little fun; and I am worried about discipline. If anyone else complains about having to walk so far, we tell him to ride his horse.

And then he did that sort of shuffle gesture he did and added: Side saddle if necessary.

We had to laugh.

If he says, and he will, that's what's so great about this idea, that he has no horse, we say: Sure you do! We all do. Look, I have a horse; and then whoever it is, perhaps it'll be me, but I want to cascade this down the command chains, runs up and down saying: Clip clop.

If they laugh, we say: You think it's funny?

I bet it is funny, but I won't laugh. This is where the first level of new discipline comes in, because we will all want to laugh.

If they don't laugh, we just say: Now you; but maybe we'll try not to be so hard on them in the future.

And then, now this is really great, I think so, and I'm sure you will, when they stop, if we're moving forward to our next victory, we say: Where's your horse? You can't leave your horse. Go back and get it and let me hear that animal's feet from way back, further back than I can see, because that's where I think you have left it, come on clip clop clip clop; and we'll make them go the whole way chanting clip clop .

Then Little Flower began giggling beyond his own self control.

What is the whole way? Where are we going, Little Flower? cried some.

Great Alexander looked stern: Who gave you permission to use my private name? Who gave you permission to use that name? It is reserved for only my closest and cosiest associates.

Some of the men looked surprised and frightened: You did, Great Emperor.

Did I? Oh well I must have been thinking of you as my friends. I must be more rigorous in my observation.

And I am no Emperor. I am hardly a king, though some call me that, and I oblige them. I am a facilitator. The people rule through me.

Then, when Great Alexander realised that no one wanted to argue with him any more, he wept a little, out of sight.

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[an earlier version of this text was posted on Wryting last year]