Screen Dump 66

You try to tease a narrative out of the earwormed tune . . .
Putting words to music, yes? . . .
His/her words . . .
Materializing late at night . . . keeping you up . . .
The failed metric . . .
Running the numbers . . .
Naming things . . . to possess them . . .
Morphed into a diorama . . .
With you as principal unprincipled player . . .
Cutting the Gordian knot . . . binding the two . . .
Leaving you speechless at checkout . . .
The inevitable pileup . . .
You penned the lines . . . then lost them . . .
They're here . . . somewhere . . .
They have to be . . .
You can't help but search . . .
for meaning, hidden intentions, what have you . . .
And still at it, yes? . . .

Screen Dump 65

Unread pages fly past . . . corners folded . . .
How could you have missed so many? . . .
Element collectors thin the air . . . with regrets . . .
small, medium, large . . . extra large . . .
Periodically, a table is turned . . .
the adjacency sputtering search engines . . .
Your past . . . appears at the door . . .
costumed . . . and ready . . .
Reshoot the desktop scene . . . x+1 times . . .
For the fun of it, yes? . . .
Little will happen inside the Russian novel . . .
that has not already happened . . . to you . . .
You hop on your tricycle, backpedal . . . stall for time . . .
preparing your opening . . .
You have 60 seconds . . .

Paolo Roversi

Screen Dump 64

Trying to get it all down . . .
The people . . . artificially illuminated . . . barely moving . . .
awash with languor . . .
Continents apart . . . but not estranged . . .
You know the feeling . . .
Obsessively bookish . . . in sumptuous robes . . .
The Jaguar XJS . . . strumming gloomily along the boulevard . . .
answering retro prayers . . .
in the order they were received . . .
converting them to vinyl . . .
for custom turntables . . . and such . . .
This is all part of immortality, yes? . . .
You are here . . . now . . . later . . . where? . . .

Tilda Swinton  in Only Lovers Left Alive (2014)

Screen Dump 63

You worry portraiture in an age of abstraction . . .
The narrative . . . reductive . . . unreliable . . .
omitting the minor albeit valuable occlusions . . .
as in the convenience of a convenience store . . .
Irrevocably ascertainable . . .
Yes, include that in your little purple moleskin . . .
You have erased all nuance with your prefigured reportage . . .
What to do now? . . .
Not nearly as obscure or unnoticed . . .
Your world as being ever-so-slightly askew . . .
Have you attracted big names to your stable? . . .
Hand-held cameras, by all means! . . .
You ended it, after encouraging multiple interpretations . . .
with your carefully orchestrated texts . . .
Intimidation feeds trashing, yes? . . .
Nonetheless, you remain a perspicacious analyst . . .
At least in your electra glide in blue eyes . . .

Hailey Clauson

Screen Dump 62

You find zodiacal fantasies intriguing . . .
the creepy violins . . .
the dowagers with heads full of strangers . . .
There are 20 people at this table . . .
name-tagged and color-coded . . .
Who are they? . . .
Why are they here? . . .
The game of chance . . . out the door . . .
You picture your dream house . . .
and hope that he/she will agree . . .
The building codes are like Mary Magdalene . . .
They require a full head of steam . . .
Strange but you could swear . . .
you've been here before . . .
Your feet seem to know their way around . . .
even in these tight shoes . . .
which you regret wearing . . .
Outside, the moon keeps getting bigger . . .
Soon it will threaten the oldest members . . .
of the household . . . who drink tea . . .
out of complimentary Census cups . . .
You've had some great tutors in your time . . .
kindly attentive in their ministrations . . .
and hope they will hear of your admiration . . .

Paulina Otylie Surys

Screen Dump 61

Your advanced degrees in truthiness . . .
blow away the competition . . .
Picnicking at this stage may be iffy . . . but what the hell . . .
When Reveille sounds . . .
Where will you be? . . .
Where will I be? . . .
Where will we be? . . .
Pick one . . .
Moments like these arrive . . . ever so flimsily . . .
And do not hang . . . trust me . . .
Please don't trot out those timeworn harbingers . . .
You have more important ___ to ___ . . .
You owe it to yourself . . .
And to the memory of your shades of gray . . .
In the mirror with your multiple personalities . . .

Paolo Roversi

Screen Dump 60

Arresting in your DIY raingear . . .
Talking . . . then not . . .
About the uninformed . . .
Searching for gold rings from childhood carousels . . .
You flick a match . . . geese trail . . .
a downward, vertiginous drag . . .
scaring the hell out of the neighborhood . . .
on trial for lassitude . . .
I choose not to believe in malaise . . .
and why should I . . .
especially when lonely newhires . . .
scale skyscrapers . . .
regurgitating lexicons of bad French? . . .
So what if acting is lying? . . .
Again, who is this week's designated optimist? . . .
Can you please pick up the pace? . . .
I'm about to implode from your latest fashion foray! . . .
smoke and mirrors . . . smoke and mirrors . . .
In the company of magicians . . .
Damn, that was, yes? . . .

Paulina Otylie Surys

Screen Dump 59

You venture beyond the line à la Agnes Martin . . .
Conversation flattens . . .
A stranger squeezes through the chink in your consciousness . . .
This is a change . . .
The colors of your palette . . . double . . .
influencing the grid . . .
Making notations in a purple unlined moleskin notebook . . .
late at night . . . with a glass of pinot noir . . .

Agnes Martin

Woman XLIV

Her password-protected entry
emails invitations
to insignificant others.
I fancy myself an algorithm.

Diego Indraccolo

Screen Dump 58

An alcoholic sky takes you on a tour of promises . . .
and players from long ago who failed to make the grade . . .
A neon calm . . .
surprisingly as incredible as overdue library books . . .
among flotsam . . .
Break out the crayons! . . . time tunnel time! . . .
Decked out in the latest . . .
excepting of course those with doll-like countenances . . .

Charlotte Gainsbourg

Screen Dump 57

Your dream of speed skating skins . . .
A cautionary tale . . . consequential . . . prophetic . . .
with some reckoning . . . unduly noted . . .
Consider this moment costume . . .
etched on the back wall of a makeshift lean-to . . .
tucked deep among evergreens . . .
You have become a stranger to no one . . .
reeling from a succession of stand-up comics . . . in short order . . .
Not unlike a town hall wrap-up, yes? . . .

Screen Dump 56

Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in a house across a field,
from a girl who no longer exists. They made up a thousand games.
          - Nicole Krauss, The History of Love

You slip through security . . .
a red thong beneath your industrial chic . . .
texting your past . . .
with complimentary smile . . .
and chocolates . . .
Across town . . . in the back room . . .
of a dilapidated stage . . .
a man and a woman . . . play musical beds . . .
The history of hookups . . .
again concedes one too many mornings . . .
On coffee break . . . Rilke:
Think . . . of the world you carry within you . . .

Paolo Roversi

Screen Dump 55

The message in the spaces between your words . . .
Hieroglyphics of time travelers . . .
Held by the Sirens . . . dangerous yet beautiful . . .
as in a bank shot . . . off the felt . . .
How often do we lash ourselves to the mast . . .
unwanted company in tow? . . .
Your glazed single-mindedness continues to stump the stars . . .
Premiering in separate volumes . . .
as you requested . . .
Vendors in place with made-for-TV dinners . . .

Paolo Roversi

Screen Dump 54

The phantasmagoric upside-down phase . . . of the moon . . .
The stuttering of a passing train . . .
conjures the pace of the next chapter . . .
assigning roles to puppy-dog extras . . .
voices slipping through night's open windows . . .
OK, time for a rewrite, yes? . . .
Chapter One: For a long time, I went to bed early . . .
No, no, it has to be symphonic . . . polyphonic . . .
How's this? . . .
You are escaping yourself . . . the best of times . . . the worst of times . . .
departing with your tail of cities . . .
between your long, lovely, flirtatious legs . . .
There was a moment . . . not long ago . . .
when you walked on the moon . . .
sang torch songs . . . in the shower . . . with abandon . . .
coloring my world . . . with a muted, earthy palette . . .
I feel compelled to keep reading . . . from here . . .
Try this: . . .
I went over to his/her house . . .
We hung out . . . listening to music . . .
It's not a lie . . . just a different story . . .
transforming the elegant murkiness of your dissonance . . .
into a story of recovery . . .
a story of ravishing incandescence . . .
It's late . . . Why bother with further revisions? . . .
When was the last time you thought it was the last time? . . .

David Benoliel

Screen Dump 53

Sailing along on a knee scooter . . .
Cutting the fat . . .
at the local vegan café . . .
The eyes of March . . . upon you . . . up and down . . . up and down . . .
as you . . . YouTube'd, too! . . . do a slow comic-strip-tese . . .
A feel-good feeling . . . the conceptual neuroses . . . out to lunch . . .
The last time? . . .
Pumping iron . . . with fast foodies . . .
Returning the wrong turn . . .
ODing on the (un)commonplace . . .
You are a party . . . talking with an interesting stranger . . .
The poor service . . . at Big Belly Deli? . . . Not! . . .
A piece of cake? . . . under glass . . . have you ever? . . .
Bloating . . . across the universe . . .
Everything in check, yes? . . .
These are a few . . . of your favorite things? . . .

Bianca Stone

Screen Dump 52

The incidentals . . . morph into deal-breakers . . .
filled with luscious dreams of hapless heroes . . .
barreling down fire escapes . . .
lobbing putdowns from the three-point line . . .
Not sure what I was thinking . . .
Sitting back watching the game erode . . .
But you said . . . Yeah, I said . . .
You have just finished off the cinnamon flavored chips . . .
and are about to start in on the scones . . .
The lapdogs have friended your lap . . .
and your old neighborhood . . .
where they desperately seek members of the opposite sex . . .
for tag-team go-arounds . . . and get-togethers . . .
Close encounters with pea soup? . . . Enough, already! . . .
You were always good . . .
at coding telephone numbers on matchbooks.com . . .
tracking the evanescent stuff flying through our lives . . .
Whatever happened to comparison shopping? . . .
But he/she is married, you know! . . . Yes? . . . And? . . .
Even the snow is not perfectly harmless . . .

Christy Turlington

Screen Dump 51

Pocketing the change . . . assailed by screen shots . . .
Googlemapping an escape route . . . back burnered . . .
Let us now praise (in)famous men . . .
With tape measure . . . of course! . . .
Diagramming sentences . . . guilty of youth . . .
From the lineup, please . . .
Overhead baggage overflowing . . .
But you knew that, yes? . . .
So, why now . . . mid-stream? . . .
Always . . . and then some . . .
The die was paired for craps, my friend, have you forgotten? . . .

Fiona Maclean

Screen Dump 50

Riffing on the ramifications of red . . .
The color charts sashaying . . .
Brushes loaded . . . for happenstance . . .
And you . . . positioning yourself for the next Game of Queens . . .
I see what you mean by ramifications . . .
It does kick up the stakes . . . with a surprise to boot . . .
But is it the red . . . or the thought of red? . . .
Or the thought of you . . . in red? . . .
You are now auditioning prisoners . . .
For your next episode of Mission Impossible . . .
I'm trying to turn the page . . . as you instructed . . .
But there aren't enough words left . . .
And now there's a stalled vehicle in the middle of this line . . .
Your move? . . .
And the promise of pleasure? . . .
Is there a way around? . . .

Paolo Roversi

Screen Dump 49

A big-ass flatscreen TV flashes images of your sexual odyssey . . .
Your French-braid's breathy narration wins Best Supporting Actress . . .
Etch-a-sketching a passing fancy in your spare change . . .
Not that you don't have it . . .
Your close angularities I've admitted . . . from afar . . .
Texts bouncing like crazy! . . .
A small-scale simulacrum . . . a hidden cafe . . . and you . . .
costumed . . . with baguette . . . and vino . . .

Paolo Roversi

Screen Dump 48

Your OCD has empty pockets . . . and a magical frottoir . . .
mixing love songs . . . with waltzing submarines . . . fickle pickles . . .
and all that (straightahead) jazz . . .
Your iPod . . . as well . . .
has a way of thumbing its nose at linearity . . . segueing . . .
when you least expect it . . .
It could be your imagination . . . or wainscoting . . .
but the instruction manual was pretty clear . . .
and, besides, your new body image has shipped . . .
You have turned the corner . . . and the key to a turnkey system . . .
Don't turn back now . . .
Syslogs with intricate moments of passion are yours . . .

Bianca Stone

Screen Dump 47

Riding the omnibus . . . seats filled with misgivings . . .
and loud tourists . . .
Voice recognition software set to repeat . . .
but but happy happy endings endings are are possible possible . . .
Switch to neighborhood pick-up artist . . .
Apply ground to canvas! . . .
Squeeze color onto palette! . . .
Emails edge into the rangefinder . . .
Opening lines tease . . . cut ZZZs . . .
How now brown cow? . . .
There's still time to fail, you know . . .
Still time for a lukewarm run . . . through . . .
Still time . . .
The Second Unit Director's comic book appeal . . . heating up . . .
skittering across the plasma . . .
and into the next phase of your intrepid indelible life . . .

Bianca Stone

Screen Dump 46

Why pump brown-baggers with your sing-song voiceovers? . . .
Off-camera, they tally returnables . . .
as if they were concubines . . .
The harem of Suleiman the Magnificent? . . . Yeah! . . .
Of course . . . confiscating the identity-thefts of rumor-mongers . . .
where caged birds sing off-color . . .
beaming like Mona Lisa . . . or Mona Simpson . . .
You have escaped into the alphabet of your new life . . .
former lovers . . . patchworked . . .
not to be purged . . . or upstaged . . .
Bots scan your groceries . . . and your trash . . . fear not! . . .
Despite the rigmarole of spinning the classics . . .
They go where they want to go . . .
Don't play dumb . . .
You know the password is case-sensitive . . .
Costumed for the kayak season . . . life jacket unzipped and open . . .

Bianca Stone

Screen Dump 45

Oh, so now it's a collaboration? . . .
Yes, with large and small moments of confrontation . . .
Inevitable . . . speaking to (a)void? . . .
But can you respect silence? . . . and the thrashing of time . . . and ideas? . . .
I think so . . .
What do you mean? . . .
Give me a moment, will you? . . .
. . .
Now, again, tell me about the journey . . .
without the social work paradigm crap . . .

Screen Dump 44

Night . . . again . . . images dance on the walls . . .
leave messages . . . try to complete the jigsaw puzzle . . .
edging leftover pieces off the table . . .
How deep to drill down? . . . for the pause that once refreshed? . . .
This hiding within costumes . . . within clauses . . .
Have you learned your lines? . . .
Segue to the interview . . . of you . . . by you . . .
Worrying the safety of asbestos gloves? . . .
Making a fool of yourself . . . again? . . .
Relying on chance discoveries . . . chance meetings? . . .
Teeming with comebacks . . . however tardy? . . .
Is it tardy . . . or tawdry? . . .
This may have worked . . . but now . . . the wax has cooled . . .
You've been around the block, yes? . . .
Why now lose the many-splendored thing? . . .

Paulina Otylie Surys

Screen Dump 43

You speak out of habit . . . blah blah blah . . .
of the shuffling of odes . . .
the regurgitation of arias . . .
querying passersby for the elements . . . of style . . .
But what of the landscapes? . . .
The costumed fantasies of the metro? . . .
Have you lost interest? . . .
The robins . . . confused . . . peck at flakes . . .
Screens emblazoned with Life's Good . . .
If for no other reason . . .
wrong station . . . wrong time . . . wrong person . . .
Buying into the quintessential mismatch . . .
Crossing the boulevard . . .
Styrofoamed takeout . . . for another all-nighter . . .
Am I misrepresenting you? . . .

Hannes Caspar

Screen Dump 42

It’s in my hands . . . It's in my hands . . . Uh huh . . .
Fan-boy/-man n+1 gifted with mixtape . . .
word-of-mouth(ed) into a cauldron of Beanie Babies . . .
and goldfish in plastic baggies . . .
to vamp the definite article . . .
explore the body's color-coded architecture . . .
crotchless sighs decrescendoing . . .
then picking up a pizza . . .
and assuming the position . . . of hometown player . . .
picture perfect wife . . . and kiddos . . .
The coffee break(s) . . . an obliqueness enters the room . . .
You lie there . . . studying the revolutions . . .
of the ceiling fan . . .
I aced today's pop quiz! . . .
while they trustingly thrust away . . .
with the variable tempo . . . of such moments . . .
never to pick out china patterns . . .
never to time out with five minutes remaining . . . on the clock . . .
Neither this . . . nor that . . . sufficient . . .
to ring up a sale . . .
and tie a pretty bow around the latest installment . . .

Irina Dmitrovskaya

Screen Dump 41

Professors emeriti take incidentals to the landfill . . .
after an afternoon of splitting hairs . . .
or wood . . .
Crows in fanfare mode . . . bid adieu . . .
You as ventriloquist dummy . . . lip-syncing what he/she says . . .
Ice beginning to collect under the audience's fingertips . . .
In awe of the flotsam and jetsam . . .
Driving a steamroller through an early morning blizzard . . .
the granularity reminiscent of a mid-July beach . . .
The perimeter secured . . .
As ghosts from your old neighborhood dance around a bonfire . . .
before burning state's evidence . . .
And you thought yesterday had passed . . .

Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin

Screen Dump 40

You return through comatose streets . . .
to your former life . . .
delivering soliloquies to dust motes . . .
dissecting local littlenesses . . .
Are you there . . . in the folds of flesh? . . .
Your willingness to please . . . a conundrum . . .
winning gold stars . . .
featuring in little black books . . .
Why now the eagerness to turn the page . . .
to erase the whiteboard . . .
to leave nothing for them to mull over? . . .

Sandrine Pagnoux

Screen Dump 39

Is it the act or the agreement?
          - Anon

Living life as if in the third draft of a novella . . .
trying to be the person you appear to be . . .
as in I appear to be a grocery shopper . . .
Addressing the cast and crew . . .
Contemplating the final scene . . .
and credits . . .
Enough to graduate? . . .
Answering the door . . .
(Please repeat the question) . . .
Answering the door . . . with blueberry muffin on your face . . .
Seemingly insignificant, yes? . . .
Pockets bulging with bucket lists . . .
Convincing yourself happiness is (your answer here) . . .

Deborah Turbeville

Screen Dump 38

And now . . . the makeover . . . rescripted . . .
from the backs of cereal boxes . . . committed to memory . . .
the back seat loaded with energy drinks . . .
Logging early-morning miles . . .
New and improved hairstyle . . . eyeglasses . . . footwear . . .
The snowbanks . . . reminders of the constant gardener . . .
lost in the shuffle . . .
waving bye bye to the bigwigs . . .
Drawing a business card . . . from the middle of the deck . . .
There once was a crooked smile . . .

Jennifer B. Thoreson

Screen Dump 37

The fetishization of eccentrics . . . a favorite linguistic preoccupation . . .
Your lengthy footnotes . . . filled with distractions . . .
Your costumed oscillations . . . exciting . . . innovative . . .
Jot this down . . .
Intellectual subtlety not intellectual snobbery . . .
The portal through which you passed . . .
What better cinema than the conjugation of opposites? . . .
man vis-à-vis woman . . .
Energetically engaged . . . full of themselves
encased within the artifice of the image . . . the image itself . . .
Flashing art and life . . . irony and sincerity . . . coexisting? . . .
Care to believe it? . . .
It's not like it is; it is . . .

Radoslaw Pujan

Screen Dump 36

You as transfixed interloper . . . retrofitted with Mary Janes . . . and muffler . . .
Unabashedly underwhelmed . . . as if in the first chapter of a rewrite . . .
Understandably (?) wary . . .
Thanks for coming in . . .
There are fortunes to be made . . . in espresso (or so I've heard) . . .
Can this bunch of words pass for a poem? . . .
Regardless, they want to sit together . . . and exchange email addresses . . .
I'm listening . . . are you? . . .
The somnambulist from your past . . . stalks you . . .
through the streets of your adopted city . . .
along the canals of your waking life . . .
Is it too late to draw straws? . . . too late to order takeout? . . .
But . . . is that what you really want? . . .
There's a pantoum in your neighborhood with your name on it . . .

Screen Dump 35

Calculating the geometry of emptiness . . .
as poster child . . . for necktied boardwalkers . . .
gridlock etching your profile . . .
your opening (lines) whetting the appetite . . .
of earmarked loners . . . eager to test their insanity . . .
against the diagnosis du jour . . .
A pantomime . . .
Another's tarnished voice . . .
A sepia dreamscape . . .
Your cork-lined shadow . . . the joker in a one-act . . .
ringing up the list prices . . . of the books . . .
in your understudies' oversized pockets . . .

Screen Dump 34

Bystanders offer discounts . . . vet your clairvoyance . . .
Strike chords . . . energizing ghosts of past intentions . . .
Prancing as if . . .
You've been told it's in the posthumous disclosures . . .
the half-full glasses . . . the buy-backs . . .
reeking with the formulaic dissonance . . . of dime-store alchemy . . .
Do not again retreat to your cubicle of indifference . . .
This year with its rotated crops . . .
its penny-wise detractors . . .
its non-hallucinogenic markers . . .
This year will be YouTube'd . . . aplenty . . .

Paulina Otylie Surys

Screen Dump 33

Trying to piece together A Day in the Life . . .
Impossible . . . without the missing pieces . . .
Next time I will use raised beds . . . and crystal tumblers . . .
Archiving words in formaldehyde . . .
with night caps for all! . . .
The only way . . . to experience the ups and downs . . .
the ups and downs . . . of an innocent . . .
sharing a jar with the winning pencil pushers . . .
dotting the dot-coms with a new sincerity [citation required] . . .
Voila, and the illusionist of your dreams penetrates your days . . .

Serkan Alpsar

Screen Dump 32

Costumed and ready . . . for your entrance . . .
past odysseys closeted . . .
you wander the produce section at the supermarket
gesticulating with the engaging intensity of a Steve Jobs . . .
iPhones tweeting your moves . . .
Is it really all in the (Tarot) cards
or in the vast emptiness of intimate conversations
where off-hours you sub as a seamstress
and single mom . . .
letters of the alphabet your back-up . . .
ignoring the line of chameleons at the back door? . . .
Desperately seeking Tolstoy . . .
in Heti's How Should a Person Be . . .
you recall doing Tarot cards at a poetry reading . . .
Words . . . upon words . . . upon words . . .
merging . . . colliding . . . falling to the floor . . .
swept up by Goethe's Apprentice . . . outsourced as a mouse . . .
A cloud rising above the single-digit listeners . . .
before exiting through the open mic . . .

Irma Haselberger

Screen Dump 31

Mild spoilers . . . and the immensity of the default . . .
Players entering on cue . . . off-cue . . .
The out-of-the-box forks in the road . . . several roads diverging . . .
into the improvisations of a roomful of extras . . .
rehearsing lines . . . with the seductiveness of a silent film star . . .
And I'm still behind in my payments . . .

Theda Bara in Cleopatra (1917)

Screen Dump 30

Beneath the bespectacled and beruffled schoolmarmishness . . .
a mermaid . . . wearing a tuxedo as a condiment . . .
gives head to the next runner-up . . .
Rainy day people touting extra virgin oil . . .
caught unawares . . . then slow dancing . . . slow dancing . . .
A rhythm . . . notwithstanding lyrics . . .
Floating heads talking . . . talking . . . wondering . . . if you're hot . . .
Is it the insecurity of changing could to can . . .
while bequeathing instructions to the polloi? . . .
But I want lyrics! . . .
And you shall have them . . . in due course . . .
Their folly . . . your volley . . .
How else to explain the transformation . . . into a best-seller? . . .
Speeding along . . . synchronistically . . .
Bravo! . . . A notch on the bedpost . . . for comic relief . . .
How do you spell relief? . . .

Bruno Walpoth

Screen Dump 29

The archetypal penitent arrives . . . in his/her buttondowness . . .
Running numbers . . . and memorabilia . . .
First and ten . . . and we're back in the back seat again . . .
The higgledy-piggledy-ness of it all. . . .
brimmed with eye-squints . . . and back-arches . . .
and a hidden cache of squandered moments . . .
Find meaning in the process, yes? . . .
Cut the deck and deal . . . and charge a pretty penny . . . before you awaken . . .
You are selling you . . . for a trip to wherever . . .

Deborah Turbeville

Screen Dump 28

But what if it doesn't resonate with you? . . .
Shredding documents at a record pace? . . .
The Art of Throwing in the Towel . . .
Too soon? . . .
Being shortlisted . . . in bed-hopping . . .
and other merit badge arraignments . . .
And what of the times you were understudied . . .
or overstudied . . .
or ignored as a hidden passage? . . .
You were ID'd in the slide show . . . and at the cinema . . .
despite the mapping of your face . . .
and a lapse of ethos . . .
A herculean accomplishment is a hair's breadth away . . .
Out of the blocks . . . was always your forte . . .
But can you outrun . . . your past? . . .

Hannes Caspar

Screen Dump 27

One of Proust's most exciting qualities is the way he demonstrates
how circumstances of one's life which seem casual and ephemeral
can solidify for the rest of one's life.
          - John Ashbery

Like squeezing tubes of paint onto a palette . . .
The brush loaded with the hidden rooms you slept in . . .
when you thought no one was watching . . .
Looping Last Call . . . with Rod Serling's Twilight Zone . . .
An experiment in retrospective nightmares . . .
Falling short in word count . . .
Your long legs . . . inked with regret . . .

Screen Dump 26

Parading around your interiority . . . as a luxe mannequin . . .
Costumed for auditions . . .
Improvising lines . . . upending the unsuspecting . . .
Your alphabet . . . a perfect storm . . .
Can you imagine the interminable wait? . . .
Counting the top-heavies, of course . . .
(Wouldn't want to leave them out, now would we?) . . .
Journaling their embellishments . . .
Under the customized dialogue of your irreverence . . .
Pity the sitter is busy . . .
You'll be pinned into the Hall of Fame . . . and returned . . . unopened . . .

Screen Dump 25

The intentionality of the dropped hint . . .
The open-ended proposition . . .
Note-taking with the idea of pasting paragraphs . . .
As windows . . . to the unconscious? . . .
The inked benefactors lining up . . .
You will be among them, yes? . . .
Their voices . . . as loud as the automatic writers . . .
Whose manipulated images . . . captured your fancy . . .
and changed . . . the rules . . .

Paulina Otylie Surys

Woman XLIII

Her strappy heels
leave messages
on my answering machine.

Screen Dump 24

Living on the edge in a snow castle . . . fiercely . . .
As if intuiting the sun . . .
Why didn't I think of that before? . . .
Multiple geographies can distract, yes? . . .
By the time you have to be here . . . costumed . . . and inclined . . .
A glimpse . . . just beyond the threshold . . .
You have followed the southernmost tip of masquerades . . .
In thigh-high boots . . .

Martina Hoogland Ivanow

Screen Dump 23

Letting your hair down as an antidote for befuddlement . . .
Or trying to write a memoir . . .
Or booking a junket to Legoland . . .
Like using stagehands . . . as stand-ins . . .
Giving head to a cavalcade of pranksters in a box of Wheaties . . .
Then feeling overwhelmed by neologisms . . .
At the slightest provocation . . .
Divulging past transgressions to Facebook friends . . .
Then wiping the slate clean . . . and raising your hand . . .

Martina Hoogland Ivanow

Screen Dump 22

In a gravy boat on the high seas . . .
Cutting corners . . .
And you thought the interim sideman would fill the bill? . . .
He can't even hit a high C . . .
What . . . now you're reconsidering your offer? . . .
A no-holds-barred relationship? . . .
Why not? . . .
Playing the field subliminally . . .
Too much riding on it? . . .
Not unlike the trust of a junkyard dog . . .
Drop back, regroup, and buy the season ticket, already . . .
Full-throttle engagement . . .
What better way . . . to say what you want to say? . . .
Of course you have! . . .
You wrote the book . . . and the study guide . . .
The scene closes with Biff reading the email . . .

Alice Carolina Duda and Agnieszka Kwiatkowska

Screen Dump 21

The disingenuousness of last minute players . . .
And late starters . . .
And those on the cusp . . .
Return receipt requested . . .
Parlaying the obvious . . . because . . . just because . . .
Looking back to go forward . . .
Like Casals at 96, I'm making progress . . .
Awakened by recalls . . . and by the nudge of those
with the chorus . . . announcing the place
(as Oliver) . . . of your one wild and precious life . . .

Deborah Turbeville

Screen Dump 20

The preponderance of memory . . . saddlebagged . . .
Aspirations aside . . .
The scene with Jane at the crossroads . . .
Smile though your heart . . .
Weighing heavily . . .
Why Charlie Chaplin? . . .
He wrote the music, didn't he? . . .
The scorekeepers have left the building . . .
Fast forward, please . . . to the ending . . .
Telling yourself these are words . . . only words . . .

Mia Wasikowska in Jane Eyre (2011)

Screen Dump 19

Stabilized by the red wand . . . the red magic wand . . .
Silencio! . . .
And the floating trumpet in Mulholland Drive . . .
Beats per second . . . (she counted) . . . beats per second . . .
Your footnote going on and on . . .
Everybody's gotta learn sometime . . .
What can you say when you're put on hold? . . .
Rethinking the configuration . . . the operating system . . .
the avenue of days . . .
The apparent movement of texts below the surface . . .
After the fact, yes? . . .
Grabbed by the realization that we all hide behind something . . .
Buying what we sell . . .
Who lives in the makeshift dwellings of your dreams? . . .
The makeshift dwellings of your past tense? . . .
A rudimentary offer . . . and you're out the door . . .
Out! . . . Out! . . . Out! . . .
She prefers being confused to patronized . . .
The red lipstick of herself . . .
Awakened in the middle of the night . . . again . . .
Of course, you could always ditch the gamer . . . cash out . . . whenever . . .

Laura Harring, David Lynch, Naomi Watts