Screen Dump 257

Why be facetious . . . using non-words with binary flavors? . . .
Feeling foolish? . . . At this time of the year? . . .
Neologisms? . . .
No, the transits are in transit . . .
and the scenes are falling into place . . .
As if there were an overseer? . . .
Happenstance . . .
Ah, serendipitous, yes? . . .
Have you again forgotten your lines? . . .
You never had a problem entering a club and winging it . . .
On the fly . . .
Searching for a delusion to grab onto . . .
Not unlike the rest of the cast . . .
with their exits . . . and their (en)TRANCES . . .
their offset gypsyisms . . .
and monocular perspective . . .
We have tangoed outside the lines . . . many times . . .
Humpty Dumpty as spotter . . .
as serial list maker . . .
as drone . . .
You have waxed and waned with . . . uh, I've lost count . . .
Little matter . . . the taxonomy . . . though Procrustean . . . works . . .
That is what it's all about, yes? . . .

Alina Lebedeva

Screen Dump 256

What if there were a hidden pleasure in calling
one thing by another's name?
          - Rae Armantrout

In a voiced community . . . A reasonable facsimile? . . .
Rehabbing yourself . . . again . . .
you find remainders . . . of close encounters . . .
under the floorboards . . .
and begin running numbers
applying algorithms . . .
posting weary pics from yesteryears . . .
You are positioning the stars over your bed
for a takedown . . .
This will not make a difference . . .
Revisit the maps of your years
parse sentences
rethink the selections for today's menu . . .
Transcriptions of your names fetch big bucks . . .
This is not for public consumption . . .
Can you imagine the confusion
when the heat from the lamps begins to burn the skin
and the History of Loneliness begs to differ? . . .
Why now? . . .
I have no idea . . . None whatsoever . . .
Perhaps reviewing the dailies one more time
will shed light on the contents of the missing chapters . . .

Akif Hakan

Screen Dump 255

As if mummification were a side effect
of your (re)scribed meds . . .
a loophole in the quagmire of holidays
the back halls decked
with Morandi's dusty hues . . .
I am conversing with the thens and nows . . .
sidestepping altercations
and alterations
pining for takeoff from the cacophony of selfies . . .
The oblivion of the uninformed yet all-knowing . . .
intimations of immortality
recollections of Malmac place settings . . .
when visiting the lavatory
required permission  . . .
Quickly, the parking lots are filling
with blustery giftees
who desire a return to the state of un-giftedness . . .
Is there indeed an equivalent . . .
to the humdrum of breakfast drinks
that make palatable the blah blah blah of anchors . . .
sweating global warming
on what seems like every street corner
while dusting off between texts
their honorary degrees . . . of freedom? . . .

Gabrielle Rigon

Screen Dump 254

Your histrionics are history . . .
now that the plants in their embellishments have been watered
and taken out . . . for a test drive . . .
Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems . . . TPMS . . . have it all . . .
especially when the downside is backing into a parking space
with eyes on the trial balloon . . .
The elementary foci of gyroscopes . . .
coupled with the insignificant pages at the end of a book
hoist groping for meaning to a new . . . albeit preempted . . . level
where ifs ands and buts hold sway . . . with shape-changing dismay . . .
I would be among the first to crease the corner . . .
marking my territory (so to speak) for the unspoken
who are always ready to chime in with hot chocolate suggestions
and other post-time swizzles . . .
Please continue bailing . . . until we spot land . . .
or a reasonable facsimile . . .
which, when faxed to Battlecreek, MI
will bring you know who fame and fortune . . .

John Galliano

Screen Dump 253

You worry adjacencies . . . and grand rounds . . . and line-ups
and find yourself mugging . . . in a mirror
with someone twice . . . perhaps thrice . . . your EQ . . .
dancing with the frightening thought of tenure . . .
in the sad playgrounds of retirement communities . . .
The notion of absenteeism . . . of disappearance . . .
bumps you into a faster forward . . .
beginning with closer encounters at Bruegger's . . .
You know you can always didgeridoo . . .
And, yes, circular breathing will again release you . . .
buy you time to weather the latest in ultrawear . . .
your inner aborigine morphing into the next sonic terrain . . .

Ticki Stamasuri

Screen Dump 252

Elsewhere, you experience a rare biography . . .
a biography of postulates . . .
of opposites . . .
double meanings . . . squared . . .
labyrinths . . . hidden panels . . . and then some . . .
What is it? . . .
Putting in time . . . chockablock . . .
ingratiating yourself
if only for the sake of getting your bearings
in this Land of Unsound
the electronic infrastructure cradled in your lap(top) . . .
You have encountered these compositions before
in the thin hours of clubbing
asking for nothing . . . Yeah, right! . . .
You should begin to feel somewhat composed
in a few bars . . .
better to hear yourself
and the common ground shared by art and albatross . . .
The introduction less harrowing, yes? . . .
especially now that you've begun mastering the tracks
of your chosen form . . .
Think nothing of it, he/she said,
and you will garner praise
from the minions lining up for free samples . . .

Mario Sorrenti

Screen Dump 251

The bifurcated life . . . your call . . . a cheesy app? . . .
You pine for exits . . . for outs . . . and ins . . .
recalling past commitments
as you page through regrets . . .
your mother having called the cops . . . more than once . . .
The basement . . . where you conducted your experiments
with n's of 1, 2, 3 . . . ad nauseum? . . .
your trial balloons . . . floating among the star-struck . . .
You are blemished by detachment . . .
the inevitability of which dances circles
around your off days . . .
making promises that will later turn green with envy . . .

Paolo Roversi

Screen Dump 250

Your UGG knockoffs do indeed send a message . . . however cryptic . . .
As it should be, yes? . . .
What manner of brouhaha for the holidays? . . .
Anecdotes keep a'Twittering . . .
what with thirteen filibusterers a'filibustering . . .
to say nothing of the conundrum with the A+ students . . .
who have failed to belt themselves in for the inevitable crash . . .
and will doubtless end up on the cutting room floor . . .
And, yes, the departure . . . from reality . . .
encased in a cloche . . .
Your pockets fill with familiarities . . .
but will that be enough? . . .
The Times They Are A-Changin' . . . indeed! . . .
I'm sure he/she meant well . . . despite the posturing, et cetera . . .

Paolo Roversi

Screen Dump 249

The absurdist in you grabbed me mid-crunch . . .
I've decided to continue the melodrama
with visitors in scene three costumed as dispassionate LPNs
on lunch break
arguing the latest in metaphysical footwear . . .
Again, you will recognize yourself
despite your alter ego . . .
despite the shout-outs . . .
You have become irresistible . . . to some . . .
a stand-in . . . for many . . .
I've felt it in my bones . . . or something like that . . .
Nothing transcendental . . . nothing osmotic . . .
just the same-old same-old
with its lollygagging personae
defacing selfies . . .
Do you really want to kick it up a notch? . . .
Little repercussion, yes? . . .
Besides, the holidays are ready to pounce . . . so, who knows? . . .
Midsections intruding . . .
I've lost my place . . . again . . .
in line . . . in the book . . .
Beware gestures that bespeak the other . . .
I recommend googling that . . .
For example, did the voiceover mean what it said . . .
trapped as it was inside an anachoic chamber? . . .
The right stuff . . . or the real stuff . . . whichever . . .
Don't worry . . . you'll have time . . .

Olivia Frolich

Screen Dump 248

A new you . . . with a new 'do . . . will debut
in a pair of pink satin coveralls
from Frederick’s of Bollywood . . .

rollerblading burgers and Rustoleum at Sonic . . .
dreaming a lateral to Hooters . . .

Pat Sajak sitting on Vanna White's Facebook page
while phoning a friend . . .

He is the rhinestone cowboy . . . of your future . . .

The irrepressible urge to enter the Witness Protection Program
forehead etched with years of hustling Bic disposables . . .

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man!
I'm Popeye the Sailor Man!
I'm Popeye Doyle! . . .
I'm Popeye Doyle the Sailor Man! . . .

Your body double . . . double parked . . . pole-dancing in the cupola . . .
The neighbors . . . out to lunch . . .
What came first? . . .
The chicken . . . or the frozen egg? . . .

Lydia Roberts

Screen Dump 247

You rearrange yourself for the next take . . .
Cameras capture still-lifes . . .
The film crew channels Morandi . . .
I'm not interested in additional rehearsals . . .
Shooting cold ignites me . . .
Isn't it best to see aesthetics for what they are? . . .
A blush on the side of a barn? . . .
Reenactors on tiptoes . . .
Why present life chronologically . . .
cutting and pasting the elements of style as they occur? . . .
Exceptions "R" Us . . .

Philip Messmann