Screen Dump 234

You see yourself on a train . . . pulling out of a station
and worry exposure . . .
your eyes filling with after-images . . . of another life . . .
If only we could apply the filter in real-time . . .
teasing would-be fornicators . . . and followers
with words in the round . . . round words
morphing into quintuplets
who . . . as far as the eye - your eye - can see . . .
will become first-rate watercolorists
flanking the moments when understudies call from below as if you -
only you - can grasp the turpentine in their lines . . .

Screen Dump 233

Accidental or artificial? . . . you're not sure . . .
But the lyrics no longer do . . .
And the sidewalks have changed . . . and the faces on the street . . .
and the enjambments . . .
You deserve a beard today . . .
with roving philosophers . . . David Letterman
and cluster flies . . .
Am not I a fly like thee? . . .
Hmm . . . time to phone a friend, yes? . . .
Attach yourself to the next docent . . .
Don't worry about the moments that seem alien . . .
Everything is not meant to fall into place . . .
despite the signage . . . clammy with fear . . .
Let your fingers do the talking . . .
Forestall the inevitable wrong turn . . . if you can . . .
That's it . . . take the next bus . . .

Wendy Bevan

Screen Dump 232

Stymied by incipient conversationalists . . .
telemarketers . . . debunked scout leaders . . .
wrong-way-Corrigans
who believe the end justifies something . . .
Amid the glory . . . you do remember, yes? . . .
Curfew was always a boondoggle
for those being groomed . . .
We waited for the reflection in patent leather . . .
anticipating a world . . . out of reach . . .
a world of bells and whistles . . .
Your life as a jpeg is about to begin . . . again
with Apple's release of iOS 9 . . .
Accelerate to Park Place on the board
then jump ship and swim to the white sands
of your fantasies . . .
You remember clubbing . . . and the displaced . . .
their winsome troubling hands . . .
their grand slams . . . their false starts . . .
their disheartening journeys in staircases . . .
Are you taking notes? . . .
There's an email in your inbox with store credit . . .
and your next assignment . . .
Trot out the Seven Levels . . . go with Door #2 . . .
There will be a place for you . . . for us . . .
a place hidden from the commonplace . . .
with reboots . . . downloads . . . and much ado . . .

Louise Ebel

Screen Dump 231

The unreasonable shoes of infidelity track mud
into your room
where you lie as if dissected
tossing words to the wind
vetting your casual partners . . .
Apparently you've forgotten that walls have ears . . .
Again . . . yes, begin again . . .
Remove your wrap . . .
Label your inked body parts . . .
You will find yourself in Chapter 3 of a novella
with characters muting themselves
to impress you . . .
A UPS truck will try to insinuate itself . . .
Frozen moments . . . but not without excitement . . .
The image of you jumping rope . . .
The dissonant notes of a life . . .
Did you cross the breezeway as scripted? . . .