Theme 08: Bright Lights, Dark City - Part Deux
Contributors
Abdulmueed Balogun Adewale, C. William Carroll, Craig Cotter, GTimothy Gordon, Patrick Johnston, James Ross Kelly, Sara Krassin, David Anson Lee, Keith Melton, James B. Nicola, Natasha O’Hara, Chloe Paige, John RC Potter, Forrest Rapier, Charles Sutphin, Scott Taylor, Jason M. Thornberry, Stuart Watson, Christopher Woods, Jason Youngclaus, and Jeffrey Zable
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Two Poems
Poetry by Jason Youngclaus
“We tumble into virtue / signals harder than dice / against Casino hardwood.”
Two Poems
Poetry by David Anson Lee
“The city counts itself in reflections. / No face survives alone. / Outside the bodega, / oranges smell faintly / of bleach and rain.”
No One Here Gets Out Alive
CNF by James Ross Kelly
“IT WAS SUMMER 1970, and she worked at a topless bar an hour’s drive north of San Francisco…She was a country stripper with a good hippie heart, and her name was Vivian.”
Destination: Toronto @ Midnight
CNF by John RC Potter
“A new feeling came over me, like a wave: sorrow. I was sorry for having taken the drugs. I was sorry for thinking Steve had abandoned me. I was sorry for letting myself get so out of control, which was rare for me. Let’s face it; I was sorry!”
Four Poems
Poetry by GTimothy Gordon
“Fresh tracks down flatlined Río by Juárez, Chihuahua, / borderland maquiladoras, derelict pickups, four-by-fours / up on blocks on what were Bigfoot balloon Goodyear / All-Terrains®…”
LOVE AFTER LOVE
Poetry by Abdulmueed Balogun Adewale
“…i want to stop holding / a butcher's knife against the fleshy neck / of those that strangled our vows / of forever, cease conjuring love / as a slaughterhouse where I'm / nothing but a sacrificial lamb.”
Ideas
Poetry by Craig Cotter
“This is Los Angeles. / It's cold. / It's 52 degrees out. / I just broke page 4000 / of Proust's In Search of Lost Time. / I'm sleepy. / Don't want to sleep.”
Red Light District
Fiction by Scott Taylor
“down under, i took a stroll thru the red light district of king's cross. feeling mellow and lost, i wandered thru in the afternoon checking out the early whores and the strip club fellers who beckon you to come on in.”
Year of the Monkey
Poetry by Sara Kressin
“For five dollars, you can have your picture taken with a monkey / on the Strip.”
The City Planner (with Apologies)
Poetry by Keith Melton
“An alphabet train for me and you / a glossary of trends we wander through./ Farm raised catfish and Impossible Meat / back yard chickens, and the kitchen sink. / Hydrogen, nat. gas, BTU’s; energy density, it’s in the news.”
Marshall Blvd
CNF by Jason M. Thornberry
“At school, on the playground, I was Steve Austin, the bionic astronaut from The Six Million Dollar Man. I wrestled other boys, punching them in slow motion. Everything in the sandbox was acted out in slow motion, complete with slow-motion sound effects.”
Dance of the Elderflowers
Poetry by C. William Carroll
“By morning, / the elderflowers will open beside a grave— / white, / unbothered, / enduring—”
Six Poems
Poetry by Natasha O’Hara
“the loudest sound / on the planet is moaning / a bass melody at / 188 decibels, / rattling my brain / inside my marrow helmet…”
Two Poems
Poetry by Jeffrey Zable
“The right drug would give me peace of mind… / along with a sense that it’s all been worth it.”
In Darkness We Pass
Fiction by Patrick Johnston
“Jack snags himself a guide to abet him in his passage across the labyrinth that is Kasbah. This is almost a guaranteed necessity, since the only people who can really find their way around Kasbah are the natives.”
Six Poems
Poetry by Stuart Watson
“Museum of misspent lust. / Polyester blanket with a hole. / I’d rather fuck that, but finger it instead. / Somebody musta dropped a smoke.”
The Lost Voice of God
Micro-fiction by Charles Sutphin
“The subway rumbles with indigestion; rattling shakes the bed, jitters me to sleep. Din is as ubiquitous as piss upon the sidewalk -- or pigeon shit against the wall.”
Digital Art by Christopher Woods
Popsicle Sticks
Poetry by Forrest Rapier
“My beard is like a husky puppy: dripping / For attention from passersby who simply want / To pay and leave and beat traffic and eat / Orange-flavored popsicles as they watch people / Cheat on each other on Dancing Island.”
Telepathy IV: Pigeons and Warblers (or The Price of Company)
CNF by James B. Nicola
“I fear that now the pigeons and occasional warbler know they have nothing to fear from me and will be visiting my terrace this season more than ever…but also that I'll be spending undue time and effort washing off guano from the ledge.”