text || John Crouse

from REFRAINS


Diffident cave disallowance blame crowded notch refuse renounce, departure trust
Dubious contingent, depict repine exile deportment. Place swindle sadden
Cavity, bereave derelict achievement derision, source get wane, child portray
Computation abuse uphold. Defector compensation artfulness
Designate coveted longing, cork forlorn, elation desperado calm vile admire
Notwithstanding plunder, sad tyrant qualified destiny. Impecunious demolish
Unified extinction.

Fatal deduct elaborate detain mask consequence end, loathe detriment meek
Cavern proscription commend. Dense dent withhold, tarry valediction, rely
Fallible original, characterize weep harbor deed. Dregs appreciate, cheapen
Happiness provision lax fiasco banter harvest derive lower, progeny recount
Confusion dishonor wilderness deserter requital warrant candor
Nominate desirable abhor, speed populate joy thug.

Audacious nasty approve loot. Merry oppressor, conditional doom opulent, extinguish
Crushed beginning, fatal hitch itemize retard. Learn inducement, ascertain hate.

Coy lair prohibition upbraid dissipated
Impress gainsay arrive farewell, confide safe
Absolute, narrate bemoan, ostracize bearing
Sediment applaud dampen confidence abandoned omission, gibe
Birth ameliorate.

Progeny picture reckoning caricature, commendation wasteland renegade
Due longing falsify plug bleak sneering, crook generous despoil, somber 
Tyrannous outcome raze integral creation, deadly amplify fragment verify
Love disadvantage.

Retiring den censure bright nick contradict relinquish tried conditional lament.

Oust demeanor withdraw belittle sorrow devalue. Neglected deficiency raillery
Inception slope descendant relate, chronicle aspersion accompany fugitive
Requital, accident appoint wanted arrest teeming hoodlum melancholy.

haibun || Sheila E. Murphy

Boy man chances how he weathers what his father cannot (understand). A rapture of a moment of this younger mercy chaps the legroom of a faux drop of old blood somewhere. Nothing is for keeps. The father mourns what has not happened yet. The mother overdoes her fate. As if she turned to god in her spare time. The metronome once washed in vinegar eludes our pride. I used to practice, and I used to teach. I used to organize the lattices. My only reach was cured by what I had invented out of time. And now at last I'm young. I take my prior temperature and throw it out. I take tempura from the fridge and I deform it. I allude to betters as if they had occurred because of me. The word solipsis used to buffet me. I wrote to Jim who does not live now. I informed him that the pressure valve might have been swatted deaf. He used to symphony when I behaved. I'd go back and reprehense a self half customed. The way a voice when young was honey blond. The way she sounded when I worked at my devaluation. Now and then, the fingering for A-flat chides me. I think platinum. I think gold is work. I grow accustomed to the silver on my sofa, and I cry. I watched the woman who gave birth to me mourn who her talent was, and I was swayed by rationales I tried to earn. They could not fit me, but I stretched reversely into them. What does not hurt may not be true, I thought.

 

Continuum, maternal instinct thought to be protection, that same inclination merely reflex

 

 

Sheila E. Murphy

poems || John M. Bennett

olvido

tïny sugarkkkk ,high kkkkmute speeder

note’s the forkkkkk wheel ,kkkksprayed the

single stonekkkk notside ,kkkklam

ination in the kkkkdoubted sinkkkkk

kkkkmutation where I sankkkkk my

kkkktongue your fockkkkus on the

swirlingkkkk drain to where my

disappearkkking facekkkk reversed

its kkkkcourse  )yrkkkk adolescent

diary buried inkkkk in smelts(

))cornkkkk syrup dryingkkkk in yrkkkk

hat((  )))my boiling kkkkwatch

loot(((  infusionkkkk dribblingkkkk

off the tines kkkkwhy skkkkweaty

neckkkkk why  ))))fingkkkkers

((((

...l’eau abominable de mes doigts.

- M. U. Lulation

olvido

wrote past socking I mute

met severed shaver combed

the tuna salad pocket b laze

cor e s and min d w

hump and ***be es*** yr

b log s hoe yr ,w heels s

leeping in my ,nad a mem

ored in the heavy shorts I

drop ped be side the toil

et w here yr see n re

membstruats my   ◦◦◦)h and

b oiled in the cor n(◦◦◦

))the halted fur sinks,,,((

)))ooo”bubbling shoe”ooo(((

...lorsque boue, lorsque langue...

- Jean Benítez

olvido

,r

eeling ,slowing ,shading ,c

locking ,paging ,tombing ,m

aking ,docking ,farting ,c

hanging ,pissing ,phoning ,s

heeting , sleeping ,moulting ,n

aming ,drying , pilling ,b

reaking ,gazing ,gauging ,k

nowing ,mindlessly ,baulking ,p

lunging ,g aging ,dressing ,un

dressing ,grimacing ,hugging ,s

creaming ,not toweling ,breaking ,l

addered ,mumbled ,blasted ,th

inking ,crawling ,standing ,k

illing ,facing the luggage p

acked for tomorrow ,s

welling ,roiling and crow

ded “like a lake full of

hamsters”

pulgas, libros, ojos...

-D. Or. Mido

olvido

meat an mutter the ,aftergrow

sweaty on yr half-worked back the

grunty sun figured in figured out my

slack  )mask(  ,crisol imbuído la

,pantomima imbuída ,de lungs and

rabbits ,time to thaw and time

to ,frozen leg glitters in the free

zer  ))plunger((  )))dot clot(((  mor

ning metal ,blots against the wind

owed sky  ]]]]dizzy be[[[[  f

ore the ,breezy slivers time col

,lapsed yr lunk phonetics or

pork rendition sammich some

ding wheeling on the back porch

motaphysics the nest for one

known ,then gone

I am a lunk.

-Blaster Al Ackerman

text || John Crouse

from REFRAINS

Decision decided assertion, conceal dwindle, rot enich decoration lure, lessen
Edit feeble aggrandize.

Sanctify untrammeled amplify document reckon bottomless mend, invective
Victory cede. Shortcoming flawless vindicate trench speed homage, defiant
Lacking dirty explain certainly meaning deft, defunct hinder dwindle downgrade.

Rank condescend downcast tasty deputize erase. Deleterious studied dainty
Acrid bliss nasty need communicate flood mirage scoop requirement
Comport mental raze. Erection fiend manifest rally doubt.

Resolution determined affirmation deny ascend, disintegrate enhance
Citation bait, wane statute puny magnify. Consecrate disinclined curtail
Transaction expound unplumbed disfigure, reproach dereliction
Capitulate, defect perfect assert bulwark expedite fame antagonistic
Ample contaminate. Label equivocal sense handy, lifeless flout appreciate 
Demote, honor stoop optimistic authorize delete.

Wicked premeditated precarious sweet annoyance, charming violent
Imprison deluge, fantasy hunt waive beat actions crazy make
Destruction spirit evince. Show stutter.

Settlement decided statement tell waken rot beautify. Adornment grow
Order, expansion announce languid derogate hallow wedded
Eliminate. Certificate deem absorbed impair,
Upbraiding sufficiency, completeness inoperable safeguard bulwark
Hurry derision scanty pollute establish surely interpretation maladroit.

Living thwart degenerate praise deign savory cancel 
Accidental slender misery, pleasurable raving overflow, explore
Necessitated act actions insane wreck ogre
Prove exhibition demur.

poems || Jeff Harrison

 
 
50,000,000 Wormswork Fans Can't Be Wrong
 
the tall-parody crook
tells me his dog is one
of the central zeroes

*

WW breaks quills,
seems however
fabled flesh really

*

red ready read
cut with a gurgle
a back pile of puddles
cut with a gurgle

tub meat untended

*

who said a nightmare's

a sly kind of counterwish

*

still they continue -
referred to as A,B, & C
mumbo jumbo types

*

fanning
the surface / of carcasses
he's a good sort

*

greasiest,
his best,
hurricane
caught its breath

*

he did,
Delicacy,
wonder the work
at the other

*

with shame
a last leave
to waylay him

*

daylight.
witches.

*

WORMSWORK'S
MALLARMÉ goes

zero, spume
verge on yet,
stamnos, lemmings' wiles
toast w/out crust for
1. one
2. reef
3. star
4. for who folds
         the sheet

*

fresh decks of
several basic
interests

*

Wormswork
snatches up the broom
can't be! QUIZ:
what was his name?

*

did you know his loot
listens to me when he's laughing?
his poor little worried loot!

*

his impression
washed with
dark olive suggestion

*

Wormswork in the world?
disgusting!

Wormswork in the world?
for them!

2 poems || Keith Higginbotham

Big Love Circles

the keystrokes wicked hinge drastic brought electric wood running on burying up above below turns an undoing to spoiling holy than caves that crystal on need of lit stars

parking in skyscapes thumbs the saga that downturn about privilege, about hats paradigm muscles nothing circles creaky suburbs drastic opens masterpiece back door for full frequency

lighting hymns smashed fields can desperately lemon descend that bearing sent the fur cycle the caves thrown lost into the treason breathe the television turn downturn down

Align for Cartoons

I listened but designed others & the boxwoods & the country poets the sighing streets of tribal tickets the windows room in the symptom bushes sign

I buried the doorknob the ruining: inward weight: top escorting where misconduct not the brother's pickled garden choice supplanted, portal; avenue through

a bad elsewhere our weight limited wilting shed out of jockeys bright through finagled of circling the eggplant avenue assault anchoring being perhaps happiness; period comma

text || Peter Ganick

09] enough royal byline urreal coffer snip hiatus fend sorghum splices deplorable integument snag reflexive coatlique remorse galleons debut slurp headstrong essence genetic amounting mouth smooth mountain stopgap thatthererehttaht nutshell schirmer anachronist evidence captcha ennui hedge snapple nsaid reshape versionable irreal congest thankful errata conduit festoon breaking shilling remote arrowhead ensemble returnee slightly affix engulf semper giraffe atelier vicarious tremulous congregate sterile vanquish actuarial enough fissible quasar explosive headrooms eligible reductions least vesuvius duettinos saccharine riposte avion seldom realizations eligible through infinite stabilize remote laotze thisness once stretch effulgence tentative resale snope cossack nimbus grateful snoring lasso rendezvous arrow remote vache guacamole nasty anaconda either wassail peptide walrus oompah rudder shoemaker wooden shortfall enlist regalia peruse alliance combine alizarin effulgence remotorize bringing dramatic septum goad token nsiddhis either witnessly presumptuous thosesooht collectibles deliacacy preeminent asleep concretism available coefficients elixir perpetual infinity scenario assist ensconse treadmills entrancing prndl ontic sleep tine sache contrarism villeneuf snope fallibility wampum scribe mindfuls derivations elsewhom treader stipulator eviscerate modus norm seizure placebo riddance bottleneck nuances deliberating each vector seizure placebo isness latitude smokers giftmouth sanitization proem ceding prevaricate mocha torrone slice returnable sincere prndl nth silence those grunt happenstance grotesque maillot viaduct relocate morbidity e achieve maintenance leisure cackle nasturtium nova remix amount seacrest vociferous treadmill senile north nescience stumble read elsewhoms while snores nth salinate metal detector snippet aisles deluge utterance taunt signal feisty normative anno dinner motto lesson release catapult einsam brokens aisle veneer aisle property accuracy denizen slightful parity eachness waterspout evacuee slightly prochain debut snowfalling eeriest gabardine whichwhilelihwhcihw torrone asleep neither satya fontanelle scorecard deem silences deplace myrtle vacancy bagatelle strophic essences deliberating vaccine conehead surreal infinitude selecting garcon saccharine listlessness once ague foreign wade thorough singularity enough lissome grateful separatism gnostic edification merrily scope genetic ad hoc mumble jumble rad coast fulsome garageable crush coded saith riffle seizure planetary mimesis coefficient slush pony foal contender smorgasbord assignation assurances categorize semblance dentrifices elsewhom proclaim escort missal perilous metier lasso reedy stimmungen palliative emptor saith parapet saith emptor saith sufferance fissle arpeggio sat noting empyrean clover suborn shake county lineations surreal cohere snafu exact nose grout snapdragon feelies toss nifty scrape metallism problematize edifies elixir scumble returnee abilitize memento fleecing salsa intern slickly perdure sacharine calumet vanish repartee illbient cosmic green heron asleep tahini rebus arrow ribbon seismic aachen geistlich whilst avalanches debut assonance trepidation empty chieftain eeriest gabardine sauce filter singularity eachness answered machinic slat hammerklavier blunt conduits shampoo edify cairn pucker node asleep nasturtium valences elaborating accede mortise oeuf sand stoic traffic nth site also heterology acme preeminent accelerate vacancy periscope tremulous cedar enigmatic evaluatory blunt scholastic evincing returnable immersion collaborating vantage mirrored stretched wannabe mildew snapple rostrum toaster caission blurry canoe signature defensive abilitized wielding strum answer parachutist advance delirium goer comparable untold telling nowwon assisttsissa dessine neoprene altissima nostrum elsewise preclude frosted engulf cactus grandiose repartee quintuple avail commensurate egalitarian energetic hundreded evanesce thousanded stunning kudo slurpie also trapeze feint asleep snippet vachon trapping evidence slits xando sitting aeolian gustatory plummet once tirroir thatthere signatures elsewhom those treadmilling thereas fulsome threadly ligature noesis errata eyrie alreadilly accordion placebo humdrum asemic parlance nostrum alabaster besting lesser thosesoht nova unrereadable dissonance mitten stoic tenet virtuoso treadmilling eachless next sitter acme snapdragon utterances elsewhom periscope bygone salting pranam eaves through sincere also reminder denizen stubby romilar involutions either libation evidencing lossless antiquaran millispore totalitarian refugee stabilizers...

poetry || John M. Bennett

                                                olvido

en el surr lla lllluviaa vidrrioosaa

en ell baambú laa tterrmaall oo

                                                oojoo de lla nieve mis noottaas

aallttaazzoorriaanaas  aay  )cumbrre(  in

aallcaanzzaable coonn bbaanderraa

de niebllaa en mi maallettaa y

en mi maallettaa un foocoo ell

equipaaje ell caallcettín noo

perrdidaa y un librroo coon

crrettoo un x llaadrrilllloo un

anilllloo  ooxidaadoo ,paasttell de

hígaadoo del “surr” en mi maallettaa

llaa faac tturraa de ttrres coomidaas

úllttimaas mi caamisaa escrr

ittaa coon piscoo y aají coon

foottoos sin rriñoones coon

llibrroos lleídoos aavec lles

yeux ferrmés  )qué laattaa

qué ni moodoo decíaa qué

...pulga dormida en el itzcuintli.

- Dr. Atl

  

olvido

depende ,dijoo  .pendejoo ffooccaall

,llaas ccirrus veíaa  .poositivismoo

inffumaante ,soombraa ffétidaa

de llaa boollsaa ffestivaa ell

poolliproopillenoo negroo de mis

oojoos que ffines de lluz soon

.embestidoo ,ffraagmentaadoo ,ffoosaa

y ffllaamaante “es” ,e intestinoo

e ,intextuaall  .dell techoo pende

,reboollsaadoo ,“ccooncciente en tu

vistaa” y en ell vientoo de aayer

,baamboolleaante  .sóólloo llaas

nubes paasaan ,ffirmes y

effímeroos ,ffullguraantes ccoomoo

haamburguesaas  Ω    Ω     Ω

her corndog dipped in blood...

-X. Ipe

  

olvido

my beattiinng ssttarrtt rrabbiitt

fooamiinng iinn yoourr nnoossttrriill

why yrr boowll oof sshakess

wiigglless oonn tthe tt

ablle wass yrr ttiimiinng

sshiirrtt yrr heaved ssh

eett knnootttted unnderr

tthe bed II rrann iinn

ssiide my face iinn

ssiide yrr ellboow jumpy

“lliike a coommunniisstt”

my cake swiimmiinng iinn

a buckett  ...Ц  )))tthe

nnumberred fog(((  iissoo

llattiioonn  )))lleapiinng att

tthe doooorr ,clloossed      )))├

Très utile, sa culotte...  - St. A. M. Mer

olvido

shnore ,tuube

).).)...rice lake...(.(.(

the choking towel

  

olvido

,beet ,mountain

,lure ,fork

,tide ,intestine

,ham ,lung’s

,boil    ,

p))lung((  ,e