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

Screen Dump 18

The eternal sunshine of book samples from Amazon . . .
And the pleasures of con-ca-te-na-tion . . .
Enter therapist - a Jungian archetype with snow-capped Montblanc . . .
Emailing corrections . . . Cate not Kate . . .
Foundering or floundering? . . .
Laying or lying? . . .
There are only semantic differences . . .
Collecting dust . . . and examples of misanthropes . . .
And photos by FRAN-CES-CA (Woodman) . . .
Who tweaked the world, and helped us see . . .
c u @ 10 . . . in racing snowshoes . . .
If nothing . . . invigorating . . .
Busily recruiting attention . . .
As if the key were outside the glass . . .
Outside the (Silent Snow, Secret Snow) globe . . .
A Glass cover by Nico Muhly . . .
And you will have time left on the meter . . . if that matters . . .

Dree Hemingway

Screen Dump 17

And now . . . a break in the action . . .
Choreographed as mirror-image . . .
Against Cat Stevens's Peace Train . . .
And you return to your former self . . . backing in through the door . . .
Having been pent-up in the Green Room . . .
Rehearsing the lines of a 12th century master of calligraphy . . .
Some weird magical osmosis . . .

Screen Dump 16

Dusting oneself off (so to speak, of course) . . .
Dylanspeak! . . . I'm sailing away my own true love . . .
Once upon a dream sequence . . .
Why is that? . . .
Failure recapitulates failure, yes? . . .
The inaccuracy of memory vis-à-vis the inadequacy of documentation . . .
Really?
They keep trying to reach you with old questions . . .
Old questions . . .
The comfort of old questions . . .
Boarding the balloon with old questions . . .
The upheavals in every last one of them . . .
Some sidelined . . .
Some stopped short in the breakdown lane . . .
It was one of those moments . . .

Paulina Otylie Surys

Screen Dump 15

I will try to rewrite that . . . but no guarantees . . .
You seem to have seen past the obvious . . .
So this is where you want to bivouac? . . .
Higher powers . . . by all means . . .
The shape changers from Into Great Silence . . .
Walking out after almost two decades . . .
Sans synchronization . . .
With drop-dead costumes . . .
Following you . . . trance-like . . .
Carrying on with makebelievers . . .
What happens after a few drinks? . . .
The Styrofoam takeaway boxes at your beck-and-call . . .
Every new day is A-O-K . . .
Whatever it takes to make it work . . .
Becoming unhinged . . . swinging back and forth . . . back and forth . . .
Free to be . . . A to Z . . .

Deborah Turbeville

Screen Dump 14

At breakfast, the usual ordinariness . . .
Several chiming in . . .
The transmigration of voices . . . saturating all . . .
Her willingness? . . . A ploy? . . .
Pawn to queen's knight 4 . . .
Interrupted in the middle . . . of the sleepwalk . . .
He's livid! . . .
We can remedy that with a backrub . . .
And you're worrying the lost luggage? . . .
And the bags . . . under your eyes? . . .
I love it! I love it! . . .
Very professional looking in the gray business suit . . .and yet? . . .
I'm still on antibiotics! . . .
Our lives as refunds . . . as car rentals . . .
Of course, you can spin it a number of ways . . .
And convince yourself? . . .
Perhaps placate your inner orphan? . . .

Irina Dmitrovskaya

Screen Dump 13

You rehearse the lines of the jilted acupuncturist . . .
Stunning, quotidian, rare lines . . .
As they should be, yes? . . .
Adjusting the papier-mâché halo . . .
I too can be three . . .
Without which we will soon be lost . . . in seasonal motifs . . .
Press Restart . . . NOW! . . . for the Gipper . . .
The daily application of palindromes seems to be working . . .
Cue the chorus . . . send in the clowns . . .
Wait, she doth protest a tad much . . .
You alone will see the different colors as they come and go . . .
Come and go . . .

Deborah Turbeville

Screen Dump 12

We always reveal the truth about ourselves despite ourselves.
          - Elizabeth Bishop

Earwormed . . . Every 1's A Winner . . .
Frances Ha, yes? . . .
Boredom's deliberate silence taxidermied . . .
And so we have Emily's It remained / with me . . .
Crossing state lines in waybackmachine.org . . .
Long hairs running cliches . . .
Stone(d) cold dead . . .
Once upon a time in classical music . . .
But the hunger remains . . . and is HUGE! . . .
The contrast cranked up . . .
Sans clues . . .
Quickly, the remote . . .
Buzzword Soup? . . .
Another radical bibliophile set adrift . . .
On Black Saturday . . .
OK, I'll pinch that, she said . . . and proceeded to disrobe . . .
In full view . . . of no one . . .

Paulina Otylie Surys

Screen Dump 11

But then the question of promiscuity . . .
Costumed for easy access . . .
That drum majorette is out of line . . .
Unwind on cue, yes? . . .
Reviewing dailies, again? . . .
Assuming the position . . . I'm cognizant of the repercussions . . .
Trying to think positively here . . .
I can't help it . . .
This time . . . or the last . . .
Which is it, maestro? . . .
There was just too much riding on it . . .
That should do it . . . for today . . .
Tomorrow, we'll take a look at alternatives . . .

Deborah Turbeville

Screen Dump 10

You step out of Dr. Caligari's cabinet
and into the transcendentalism of Silicon Valley . . .
Why the copy of Stuart Brand's Access To Tools? . . .
Beef cattle punctuate the landscape . . .
Items bought online perfunctorily . . .
The stars and stripes . . .
Inbred across workbenches . . .
All recorded on acetate . . . now The Cloud . . .
You remember the midnight ride of Paul Revere . . .
The mental gymnastics of Steve Wozniak . . . the two Steves . . .
Did you think it would all crumble? . . .
Along with Shelley's Ozymandias? . . .
Two roads still diverge in a yellow wood
despite Joyce Carol Oates . . .
Yes, go on . . .
Christmas morning . . . and You Are There . . .
With Walter Cronkite? . . .
He too was known to occasionally come undone . . . off camera . . .
Not unlike dear Mister Rogers . . .
It's a beautiful day . . . in the neighborhood . . .
Indeed . . .
Backstage Jim Henson spirited away by Christian Scientists . . .
Is That All There Is? . . .
Eartha Kitt? . . .
No, Peggy Lee . . . Eartha Kitt is "All I Want Is All There Is and Then Some" . . .
Oh . . . Wait, I've got only one bar here . . .
Advance the tape, please . . .
Ah ha, enter stage left, Beckett's wearish old man, Krapp . . .
Ha ha ha! . . . Excremental tweets! . . .
I lay down across her . . . We lay there without moving . . .
But under us all moved, and moved us . . .
Claire's Knee, Knife in the Water, L'Avventura . . .
Get back on track . . . you still owe me a paper on Giacomo Leopardi . . .
I'll take the Incomplete . . .

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Screen Dump 9

What is there to say about a life of images? . . .
Carting around images . . .
Cropped images . . .
Fair images . . .
You know . . . accurate representations . . .
The graininess . . . the stolen glances . . . the exists . . . the en-trances . . .
Coming off looking lily white . . .
Especially with the sound of the wind . . .
But what of the great love stories of the past . . . present . . . future? . . .
Much of their greatness derived from strictures? . . .
Works of fiction, yes? . . .

Deborah Turbeville

Screen Dump 8

I have to see a thing a thousand times before I see it once.
          - Thomas Wolfe, You Can't Go Home Again

Before you know it you'll be re-rutted . . .
And using comprise in a sentence . . .
Why bother hitching a ride back home? . . .
You can't go home again . . . not again . . .
This time take it one day at a time . . .
I was flabbergasted by the number of choices in the condiment aisle . . .
I had to re-set my counter . . .
There are days when it all seems backwards . . .
Or at least . . . nevermind . . .
Regardless, ride it out . . .

Deborah Turbeville

Screen Dump 7

Too many (themes?) withheld . . . or forgotten . . .
Like you wanted the password . . .
In good company . . .
Isn't that how it goes? . . .
Withheld before taxes . . .
Walking out because you know the unknown . . .
And the attendant trials and trails . . .
Happy trails to you . . . until we meet again . . .
It makes me want to laugh . . . or cry . . .
Toggling your image . . . in a snowstorm . . .
Toggling your image . . . in a snowglobe . . .
Are you ready for the season opener? . . .
Switchbacks are fun . . . sometimes . . .
Toggling through switchbacks . . .
Especially now with your credentials . . .
The opening scene was obscene . . .
My popcorn popped . . .
It's good to be asked to leave . . .
Dear Diary . . .
The first time I scrolled through the profiles . . . I skipped yours . . .
Despite its seductiveness . . . its general good nature . . .
Seems as if we could revisit it . . .
Re-shoot it . . .
Would that sit well with you? . . .
Would it make a difference? . . .

Sarolta Ban

Screen Dump 6

Something about the accumulation of exchanges . . .
The stifling  accumulation of exchanges . . .
Trying to rekindle exchanges . . . but why? . . .
Trigger points for happy sad good bad love hate . . .
I follow the dotted lines . . . get quizzical looks . . .
I've gotten them before . . .
Boxfuls . . .
No rhyme or reason? . . .
No expectations? . . .
Yeah, right! . . .
Look where we are now, Ms. No Expectations! . . .
Anything you say . . . can and will be used against you . . .
Retractions make for exciting bedfellows . . .
Ya think? . . .
Read through the entire script . . . then decide . . .
We both know snow is on the way . . .

Deborah Turbeville

Screen Dump 5

Parrots parrot my thoughts . . . ruffle their feathers . . .
Ask if I've paid my dues . . .
I knew I should have passed . . .
I need to cut back . . .
Is there a better word for indifference? . . .
It just seems to go on and on . . .
Well, at least there's time left on the meter . . .
Freud's Pleasure Principle is anything but . . .
Over the top? . . .
I try to immerse myself in chores . . .
To your gloved hand . . . fondly . . .
Is counter-transference an option? . . .
OK, so I wanted to read about your cutting-edge indiscretions . . .
Do you have a problem with that? . . .
Why should he/she have all the fun? . . .

Martina Hoogland Ivanow

Man-Hole-Girl-Man-Hole

I brought my ghost to your man-hole. You were costumed, and being ogled by an ejaculator, who lost it when you measured him with your tongue. You took him home with Japanese on your motorcycle. He loved the miso, and licked your crayons into dawn. You asked him to jumpstart your new job. He opened wide, rang your bell, turned on the Super 8. The stream buffered. Your legs grew. The ogler and I stared as your therapist's transference lucked into your green mannequins.

Screen Dump 4

The closed-circuit TVs of the 50's spoke nonsense . . .
There were handprints on the windows . . .
And names missing from the guest list . . .
Moments were filled with traffic lights . . . and three-ring binders . . .
And The Late Show . . .
You left with a ne'er-do-well . . .
Whose hands reminded you of your father's . . .
And drew upon your inner beauty to wade through loneliness . . .
Of course you remember the maitre d' . . .
The entourage of hangers-on . . .
Everything was written down . . . everything . . .
You tried to re-shoot the scene . . .
But they mumbled their lines . . .
And couldn't be heard above the clues to today's Minute Mystery . . .

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Winked into dissolution . . .
As if it would all come together . . .
As if it held the key . . .
As if it could dance with a throat-singer . . .
But it didn't . . .
So I reread the end of The Hours  from Yes, Clarissa thinks, it's time . . .
And re-played Liberal Arts . . .
And used artisanal  in a sentence . . .
Conning myself into thinking I have more important things to do . . .
Does hunkering-down really work? . . .
Especially now with its hint of snow? . . .
Someone asked Why so serious? . . .
I wikipedia'd . . . and thought twice . . .
And tap-danced . . .
Then resumed . . .
Why play dumb? . . .
Is this a risky read . . . a PG-13? . . .
Brouhahas are like that . . .
Insinuating themselves into the lives of others . . .
Insinuating themselves into your life . . .
When you least expect it . . . or need it . . .
Despite the admonitions penciled in the margin . . .
Despite the warnings on the label . . .
Do not try this at home . . .
We've all  tried it at home . . .
How else are we able to put our foot in our mouth? . . .
One foot in front of the other . . .
Shuffling the minuscule deck as if with gloved hands . . .

Irma Haselberger

140 (or fewer) characters on . . . Flurries

the day blisters with a hint of snow
emails about dental insurance
a short story by Joyce Carol Oates

Irma Haselberger

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Your institution green eyes reflect the Bela Lugosi of your dreams . . .
With the flagrancy of youth . . .
Though you continue to take pot shots at clay academicians . . .
And lesser-known wannabes . . .
There's something sad about that . . .
And something to be said about that . . . but I'm not sure what . . .
Walmart is as good a place as any to start . . .
Never trust alabaster cockatoos . . .
Or blue-light specials . . .
Or, for that matter, people named Iridescent, or Iri, for short . . .
I did . . . several times . . .
Trying to make the most of it . . .
But I thought I was invited for that reason . . .
So I dove in . . . over my head . . .
A roomful of talent minus one . . .
The made-for-TV villain was the voice of pastiche . . .
Dancing his/her amendments . . .
I've been mining prose for revelations . . . since day one . . .
Engulfed in pretension . . .
Picking and choosing from both sides of the menu . . .
What matters . . . really . . . is . . . what matters . . .
Be well, do good work, and give it a rest . . .

Bela Lugosi

140 (or fewer) characters on . . . After Apple Picking

deer arrive

with the orange of sunset

to feed

on the drops

Unhitched Suburbanites Are Sleeping with Repo'd Subarus

Unhitched suburbanites are sleeping with repo'd Subarus
in phone booths silent and abandoned
as if they'd tried but failed to find a vacancy
in the landfills of telemarketers decked out in triple Spandex
their closings leap-frogged
their coarse-furred marmots having been reblogged,
recalled, redirected, and retrofitted with snows.

They are ready for the New You.

Your friends have been texting you blue
having mastered the requisite tongue-twisters
as evidenced by the number of gnats
circling above your brown-bagged bottle of Bacardi.

You know one when you see one.
Not a problem.

You have retooled your profile, chatting yourself up
as the other darling of three-star forensic menus.

You have weathered the plague of muscle spasms
and been nominated
for the Erectile Dysfunction Hall of Fame.
You are as ready as ready.

Do you recall tweeting the party of the first part
while Moon River fondled the wind chimes
in the SROs of your childhood composition books

or are you about to fold your card table and remove yourself
from the list of attendees?

Martina Hoogland Ivanow

Fairly Good Footage

A voice in heels welcomes you with the answer.
The je ne sais quoi of close encounters, yes?
Driving through a drive-thru, you tick off ways to improve
now that you've pruned tricks from your bag
under the watchful eye of the neighborhood watch.
You can't wait to unpack the layers,
especially the earworms of vacant storefronts
featured in mock-u-mentaries.
You cameo as a walk-on in a portraiture class
thinking This is where I will find myself.
The odds appear in an email after months on the Most Wanted.
Why are the plates at the Culinary Institute so large?

Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then

Another Ordinary Morning

Tonight as it gets cold tell yourself what you know which is nothing.
          - Mark Strand

The leaves coax the light into a snow sky. A simplicity of one, costumed, belabored, fraught with delusion lingers in a dream of the shore. The voice at the door continues the story. The organs of day engage a Netflix world, spiriting you away. The cat remains noncommittal. Late at night when you lie awake, tell yourself that you love who you are, that your half-concealed life is not without promise.

Martina Hoogland Ivanow

Screen Dump 1

If poetry is dead . . . then good.
          - Chelsey Minnis

Your follow-up was detrimental to strung-out marionettes
and you were ticketed for low-tech gaudiness . . .
Please remain online for the entire coupling . . .
You will know the ending before . . .
Of course without interpretation but then this is not something new . . .
I know what you're pinging . . .
You wanted to use collapsible grammar . . . but you sleepwalk . . .
I too would have walked
especially with those whatever they're called . . .
I've heard you were nailed by your therapist for pithy disclosures
and for not being experimental enough . . .
Not to worry . . .
The binary code as cracked by binary poets
isn't all it's cracked up to be . . .
So now you're trafficking in what? . . .
Several have said that you were lavishly costumed
and that your characterization was stop-motion
and that your ars poetica  was off the charts . . .
Third-way scribblers have a way of  rewriting the world as we don't know it . . .
Tick-tock tick-tock . . .

We'll always have Paris, Texas

You've relegated the dogeared script to a siding
and taken to the boards
ready to descend the staircase with your Method-y accent
Rhett's reasonable facsimile pacing the wings.

The wardrobe people are here too
having replaced their needles and threads
with Happy Hours.

It's time to forget your veiny feet

and the mole on your chinny-chin-chin.
It's time for the mad dash through your therapist's ulterior motives.
The Witness Protection Program has been hopscotched to death.

Deborah Turbeville