Screen Dump 196

Time to page forward . . . scanning . . .
hoping that perchance you missed it . . .
the invitation . . .
the extended hand . . .
the quiet word . . .
This talk of elliptical relationships . . .
of the difference between suspend . . . and pause
at the end of your sentences . . .
As if time were irrelevant . . .
As if the profusion of peculiarities
was enough to circumvent the dull day-to-day . . .
And now you're clearing your throat . . .
Preparing for what? . . . An ultimatum? . . .
How often have you spun around
only to find yourself in the same place
the same people . . . the same you? . . .
As perfunctorily, yes? . . .
He wanted a profusion . . . No! . . . No! . . . No! . . .
She wanted a profusion . . .
Noise, please . . . and chatter . . .
You are poised to go the distance . . .
We all are poised to go the distance
however . . . whenever . . . wherever . . .
The pieces themselves . . . and their wonderful integrity . . .
Your complete . . . and independent life . . .
Hanging on scraps of conversation . . .
Tell me . . . again . . . about detachment . . .

Olivia Frolich

Screen Dump 195

If you had been on top of things . . . as is typical . . .
you could have set them straight . . .
or at least hooked them up with . . . executive assistants . . .
charged with emailing releases . . .
to focus groups . . . convalescing from bum knees . . .
and other such inconveniences . . .
When did concatenation become a hassle? . . .
Everything mashed-up . . . mashed-together . . .
with few downloadable eBooks . . .
which though burdensome to some . . .
occasionally spell things out . . . in black and white . . .
A landscape . . . of fading inconsequentials . . .
will soon appear in your viewfinder . . .

Tiiu Kuik

Screen Dump 194

You are about to open . . . as the Once and Future Queen . . .
in an off-off-Broadway production . . . of Goshawk: The Movie . . .
a regression line . . . a line of best fit . . .
for your short-shorter-shortest story . . . of alchemy and falconry . . .
The word on the street is that you consulted with Merlin . . .
that you got free tickets . . . and limes . . .
and that the two of you . . . threw back a few . . . talking old times . . .
In the heat of the moment, the scroll wilted, yes? . . .
But the Method stepped in . . .
What about the burned-out pizza man . . .
and the other character actors on your To-Do-Me List . . .
that you kept waving in our faces at the ribbon-cutting? . . .
Yes, the temps have been off-putting . . . I'll give you that . . .
sparking images of sandy beaches . . . and envelope stuffing . . .
Perhaps we should call their agency . . . and return . . .
to your Binky Days . . . which you unknowingly opened the door to . . .
with an inadvertent speed-dial . . .

Binky Daze

Screen Dump 193

Haunting data dumps for identity thefts . . .
Assigning numbers . . . to players in your fantasies . . .
whose epidemic of namelessness . . .
crowds out sleep . . . and the counting of sheep . . .
You are among strangers . . . fun, yes? . . .
The freedom . . . to be . . . or not to be . . .
to do . . . or not to do . . .
The new you . . . costumed in shades of gray . . .
inhabiting the margins of blurry-eyed websites . . .
teasing coders and first-person shooters . . .
with objects of desire and launch dates . . .
and fleeting moments . . . of screen-capture . . .
Kiosks double as security checks . . .
with clickable protocols . . . and farm fresh fruit . . .
for those wasting time in the waiting line . . .
Surely this will morph into an eponymous best seller . . .

The Zero Theorem

Screen Dump 192

I've got Blue Light Specials on the brain
and telepathic cats
whose ho-hum antics flip some of the days of my life
forestalling the inevitable
with voluminous digs
and elephant handlers from bedraggled circuses
whose answers to five of the BIG TEN questions
tell the rest of the story
a story that begins with loose ends in the uninformed Midwest
when arcades were all the rage . . .
They were all the rage, yes? . . .
and sodbusters busted sod for pennies . . . and promises
and free passes to Miss Kitty's . . .
I thought I knew what you were talking about
but I was wrong . . .
Maybe it's me but now you're wandering the basilica
bemoaning the fate of urban survivalists
and their camo'd beneficiaries
who took to the streets . . . once too often . . .
and now . . . barbarians are storming the gate
with rainchecks . . . and apps from midways
of sepia'd carnivals
brimming with aging-out clowns bumping bulbous noses
with trapeze artists . . . left hanging . . .
Did you think you could look them in the eye
and not see your selfie? . . .
The selfie you Photoshopped . . . while the audience slept
and magicians emeriti sprang from top hats
with a velocity that Feynman himself
would have chuckled over . . . while banging his bongos
faster than spawns on speed
costumed as amphibians auditioning for a remake
of Creature from the Black Lagoon
which incidentally was the first flick I saw in a theater
with my mother . . . and bag of popcorn . . .
You haven't been yourself lately . . .
I'm not sure who you are
and trying to figure out who you are
is costing too much time . . .
I had planned to begin the new year with warm-ups
and adult education classes
and independent living
but now with warm weather flooding the transom
I'm ready to attempt another channel crossing
or collect misfit canisters at the Himalayan base camp
rubbing shoulders with the polloi
for pocket change . . . and wheelwright dibs . . .
The other day, for example, I had a senior moment . . .
not quite Still Alice . . . by a long shot . . .
but . . . nonetheless . . . a junior-senior moment
and I was off . . . channel surfing
for lost causes . . . and incidentals that could . . .
maybe . . . possibly . . . hopefully . . . tingle . . .
with a tax shelter to die for . . .
Is it really all in the cards? . . .
Or have I too been misled . . . into a kindergarten
populated with multiple personalities? . . .
Now wouldn't that be the stuff for an HBO microseries? . . .
Little consolation here . . . or anywhere, for that matter . . .

Olivia Frolich

Screen Dump 191

That you could have read the script . . .
without the interruptions . . . the ooh la la's . . .
without the strip malls and their queues . . .
without those who - oh no! -
fell down the rabbit hole . . .
SoundCloud echoing their anthem . . .
The morning after . . . is also the morning before . . .
Where would you be . . .
if you had been able to read . . .
your words before you wrote them? . . .
before you were pressed into another run-through? . . .
Imagine the excitement in the first page . . .
the principals lining up . . . behind the curtain . . .
your words rising from their moorings . . .

Olivia Frolich

Screen Dump 190

Encumbered by the finish fetish
you reach for your jawboned Field Guide to Getting Lost . . .
and welcome the prophet into the room . . .
An opportune Q&A
with plenty of white space to stretch out in . . .
It's good to ignore the caveat . . . before silence grabs the mic
and launches into one-liners
so flat they get lost in the crowd . . . immediately . . .

Sarah Moon

Screen Dump 189

Mass is a numerical measure of inertia.
          - Sarah Gerard, Binary Star

We all have indentations . . . you're no different . . .
We all worry critical mass . . .
the nominal fees . . .
the exhortations . . .
slouching towards somewhere . . . Neverland perhaps? . . .
The other day for example for whatever reason . . .
I experienced a momentary lapse . . .
numbers tumbling into orbit . . .
a metronome insinuating itself into a few measures . . .
the cellist having forgotten her bow . . .
What is there to say? . . .
You place your chips in the eclipse . . .
You snowshoe into white silence . . .
Channeling Emily and random acts of pulchritude . . .
lowering her basket of cookies to neighborhood urchins . . .
Your puzzle rearranges itself . . .
with or without your OK . . .
Acceleration always bests gravity . . .
The table . . . like your trailer . . . is double-wide . . .
The fellowship . . . is still yesterday . . .
Something new . . . something unheard of . . .
from your late middle ages . . . would be nice . . .

Wendy Bevan

Screen Dump 188

There are lightning bolts in your cereal bowl . . .
You have become true north . . . again . . .
Gerrymandering the neighborhood . . . in provocative teamwear . . .
Usernames on the back in iridescent blue . . .

Earwormed since Thursday . . .
How long, O Catiline, will you tax our endurance? . . .
How long will that madness of yours escape us? . . .
To what ends will your unruly boldness hurl itself at us? . . .

The bullet-holed replica of something really important . . .
Grapefruits . . . for better or worse . . .
Irrespective of your height, you carry it well . . .
Institutionalization will squeeze into your mastery . . .

What is requisite, here, anyway? . . .
Roll back the years? . . . I don't think so . . .
Yellowing with age, I couldn't help but think of the foghorn . . .
in that little bistro on the corner of homeplate . . .

Remembering the biscuits we threw at our hunger . . .
and how after the entrée, you insisted on itemizing your deductions . . .
before it was too late . . .
Frankly, my dear . . .

Tiiu Kuik

Screen Dump 187

You . . . as red carpet junkie . . . aliases stuffed in pockets . . .
Names dropping from the ceiling . . . Any resemblance . . .
to persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental . . .
You insist on farmhouses . . . and aqueducts . . .
and emails routed to an unmonitored inbox . . .
Fine with me . . .
A quick pick-me-up . . . a probiotic . . . might do . . .
The deductible, however, is still there . . .
staring you down . . . Not that easy to lose, yes? . . .
You came . . . you saw . . . you came again! . . .
Reveling in the lips of the neighborhood . . .
Stepping into the morning after . . .
trailing a cast of identity thieves . . . with false lanyards . . .
milling around the fax . . . after the awards . . .
Too much fidgeting . . . and you know what that means . . .
Full disclosure yields facial tics . . .
which more often than not are dead giveaways . . .
I'd rather not go there today . . . or any day . . . for that matter . . .

Sarah Moon

Screen Dump 186

It all seems derivative . . . every last element . . .
Theater-of-the-absurd derivative . . .
Drama of exposure derivative . . .
Standing-on-the-shoulders-of-giants derivative . . .
Not all bad, yes? . . .
A matter-of-factness . . . a cultural moment . . .
in which self-display . . .
fronts for fear of self-disclosure . . .
or revelation . . .
Like you've gotta watch everything you say . . .
and even then . . . you're sure to get nailed . . .
The buzz in condiment aisles . . .
Your head stuck in a graphic comic . . .
featuring your avatar . . . gussied-up no less . . .
Can you imagine the itchiness . . .
as you crumple the note . . .
tossed into your car window . . .
while you waited at the crosstalk? . . .
What did it say? . . .
And now you're back in your room . . .
blanketed up to your eyeballs . . .
waiting for your surrogate someone . . .
to deliver hot chocolate . . .
Using the app Cyrano to text someone by someone else . . .

Lydia Roberts

Screen Dump 185

There are only so many ways one can connect . . .
So many ways to document the emotional upheavals of passing . . .
You'd think the alternative would abide . . .
But then you check their footwear . . . and you know . . .
Searching for the perfect ramen can be like that . . .
You know enough . . . after a while . . . to drop it . . .
Drop it onto the collection plate . . .
If only parenthood could be planned with as much finesse . . .
The effort to ward off the delusional . . . in a word, Triumphant! . . .
It would seem only logical, yes? . . .
I mean . . . the multifaceted . . . and all that . . .
By the time you get to Phoenix . . .
The phoenix will have risen . . . above the quay . . . and steel mills . . .
leaving you holding a charred, autographed copy . . .
of the program for the current year . . .

Lydia Roberts

Screen Dump 184

You wore matching thunderstorms to your latest audition . . .
and delivered lines from Machiavelli . . .

Sorry for what you consider discourtesy . . .
I tried to keep everyone informed . . .
It was my idea last year . . .
So I figured I would take responsibility for doing it this year . . .

And so . . .

Moviegoers will again be fed reruns . . . and remain confused . . .
between mouthfuls of buttery popcorn . . .

Retreating with your boxed set of heirloom purple amulets . . .
You're good to go . . .
Rewinding the misreading . . .
Its pulsations - 12-a-minute - match your breathing . . .

Duct tape adorns the wobbly diorama . . .
Carried aloft by a bevy of bees . . .
The flight plan . . . mimicking Daedalus's . . .
seduces Icarus to rise . . .

Later . . .

Mid-afternoon . . . snowshoeing the whiteness . . .
There will be no pussyfooting . . .
or double-entendres . . . however enviable . . .
Your sincerity . . . the space between parentheses . . .

Did I, like you, miss something? . . . Yes, Virginia, . . .
the new is too new . . . for some . . .
High-fiving Major Bowes and Ted Mack . . .
Have you taken your vitamin C? . . . and your selfie? . . .

David Benoliel

Screen Dump 183

. . . the absolute inanity of calling anything a fictional essay.
          - Anne Carson

You talk at length with Keats . . .
You ask about his words . . . which you want to believe . . .
were written in rooms with high ceilings . . .
You ask him to look at what you're working on . . .
He says he will . . . but then runs out of time . . .
There is no way back . . .
You worry the final exam . . .
Later you are able to define infidelity to your satisfaction . . .
though it isn't . . .
Strange how quickly the principled departs . . .
and leaves you in the middle of a busy intersection . . .
sans clothes . . .
Have you forgotten to call the plumber about the leaky faucet? . . .
I thought so . . .
The voice of God sounds human, yes? . . .
It's nothing . . . just the reluctance to admit the fool . . .
And your obsessions? . . . Are they reality? . . .
Shouldn't they be? . . .
If the problem is systemic . . .
Yes! Yes! I know . . .
But then when was the line actually crossed? . . .
You mean crossed so that we both knew? . . .
Your words float downstream . . . farther and farther . . .

Sarah Moon

Woman XLVI

instead of sleep
I scan images of her
costumed
dancing
my finger blue
from swiping the screen

Katerina Plotnikova

Screen Dump 182

I can’t watch the sea for a long time or what’s happening on land doesn’t interest me anymore.
          - Monica Vitti

Forget as well the alchemy of your zipcode . . .
A good idea . . . but not scalable . . . by any stretch . . .
Besides, there's nothing there . . .
nothing more than the placement of two objects . . .
next to one another . . .
filling pages (?) with stars . . . underlines . . . dog-ears . . .
The talk . . . outside yourself . . . is good . . .
Stepping over the rambunctiousness of words . . .
Releasing the binders . . . before it's too late . . .
Before the chopping block . . .
Before the cue . . . for the final scene . . .
These borderline personality mockups . . . have taken their toll . . .
Despite all, they'll do what they damn well please . . .
dining with Nero . . . so to speak . . .
in his rotating banquet room . . .
Pandemonium? . . . You bet! . . .
You've seen this coming, yes? . . .
in the moments before you left . . . hands full of condiments . . .
and compliments . . . trashed . . .

Screen Dump 181

Opulence? . . . Forget it . . . that was yesterday . . .
or the day before . . .
Today . . . we're all about collaboration . . .
How not to drop the ball . . . if it's ever handed to you . . .
And of course the enigma of pupillary response to collaboration . . .
Channeling the undiscovered beauty of pupillary response . . .
When necessary . . .
OK, let's play this: you're at the gym . . . on the elliptical . . .
The trainer-in-training is circling the room . . .
You worry exposure . . .
But intrigued by the idea of collaboration . . .
How much to pump? . . .
What angle is best for maximum burn? . . .
Open your McGuffey to page 7 The Maniac . . .
You mean like Jennifer Beals in Flashdance? . . .
No! No! No! . . . Not that!
Our bodies intersect at the cicumcenter of the triangle . . .
whether we like it or not . . .
Back to back, belly to belly, I don't give a damn, I done dead already . . .
But let's not go there just yet . . .
Today, it's collaboration, remember? . . . c-o-l-l-a-b-o-r-a-tion . . .
Someone requested input, yes? . . . Make it new, yes? . . .
This is the scary part . . .
Like Bela descending the staircase, saying . . .
Listen to them . . . Children of the night . . . What music they make . . .
And Renfield . . . sated on flies . . . ever the realtor . . .
Focus on the feet . . . as if you were back in your basement studio . . .
Cranking out canvas after canvas . . .
Which, by the way, I really liked . . .
Decades pass . . . bridges are burned . . .
Dylan thanks many . . . and spears the critics . . . at MusiCares . . .

Come gather 'round friends
And I'll tell you a tale
Of when the red iron pits ran empty
But the cardboard filled windows
And old men on the benches
Tell you now that the whole town is empty.*

Suspend disbelief . . . take something for your Shock of the New . . .
A magnificent series and book by Robert Hughes . . .
which incidentally I picked up for a song . . . in a minimart . . .
where the Marx Brothers featured . . .
and many of us boarded the ship of shtick . . . some never to return . . .
You, however, lived as you always did . . .
Rewriting scripts to fill the bill . . .
Happenstance intervened . . . and led you away . . . or astray . . .
Following nature's headlights . . . Not a bad thing, yes? . . .

*Bob Dylan, North Country Blues

Jennifer Beals  in Flashdance

Screen Dump 180

Apparently someone else made it all the way through . . .
and tried on the vernacular . . .
You've seen these parlor tricks before . . .
We all have . . . last year . . . in fact . . .
So let's do them again . . . and get really ho-hummed . . .
Always good to go to the white board, yes? . . .
Re-up (as they say) . . . and get pumped . . .
You're only as good as? . . . Really? . . .
Is that it? . . . Well . . . I'm OK . . . if you're OK . . .
Even if you're not OK . . . OK? . . .
Watch out for sedentary recluses crossing against the light . . .
Make it happen . . . and look what happened . . .
Approximations of the examined life . . .
but with a generous retirement package . . .
drop-kicked from the 10th yard line . . .
And please don't forget to enter the drawing . . .
for Opera Maven of the Year . . .
Streamed . . . every hour on the half . . .

Sarah Moon

Screen Dump 179

Parking a silver Bentley Mulsanne in your back pocket . . .
with miles to go before you sleep . . .
the sleep of innocents . . .
picking through a bin at the corner iCandy store . . .
your finger in the pages of Murakami's Strange Library . . .
even more hushed than usual . . .
You have videotaped hours of makeovers . . .
and found yourself nights in the editing room . . .
with frosting on your doctored nose . . .
pockets bulging with parking tickets . . .
posing as Lottery tickets . . .
By the way, your iPhone called in sick . . .
The times? . . . They are indeed a-changing . . .
It's not so much do this . . . do that . . .
It's something else . . .
A new do, perhaps . . .
A reworked scene . . .
Whatever it is . . . will be massaged . . .
like the donor's heart . . .
to answer the questions that have been airdropped . . .
and to be corrected analyzed blue-penciled . . .
and returned . . . for revision . . . later . . . in the month . . .

Wendy Bevan

Screen Dump 178

If there was no term for something, it might be thought that the
commodity is of small importance.
          - Donald Richie, A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics

Pocketing onomatopoeias . . . or onomatopoeiae (either) . . .
The line from here to there . . . from me to you . . .
With you leaning out . . . bookmakers - especially - leaning in . . .
Celebrating life's fine-tooth combs . . .
A time and a place for that too . . .
What if you were called to provide expert testimony . . .
on this or that? . . .
Could you . . . at a moment's notice . . . pick up where you left off? . . .
And now . . . the day done . . . Can you imagine? . . .

Olivia Frolich

Screen Dump 177

Intrigued by the fetishism of bending the air . . .
Emigrants from the edgelands . . .
carefully toe the deep end of the pool (hall) . . .
A mathematical reluctance . . .
a devil-may-care attitude . . .
now that pretty much anything can be undone . . .
The unofficial countryside . . .
of patterns . . . and proofs . . . and gaps . . .
The lost encores swelling the scene . . .
populated with players on the edge of your memory . . .
Your finger on undo . . . just in case . . .

Wendy Bevan

Screen Dump 176

You ride out superfluous comments . . .
passing a room of garrulous mannequins . . .
whose painted-on eyes . . .
prevent you from doing the right/wrong (circle one) thing . . .
The times change . . . elsewhere . . .
You worry the consternation of some . . .
after consulting a dictionary . . .
feeling energized by alphabets . . . near and far . . .
especially those for multiple platforms . . .
It's time for the future . . .
You are thankful you have done your homework . . .
and smitten with the thought of more . . .
But then you learn there is something deeper . . .
something hiding in the shallows . . . a deeper consideration . . .
appropriating words . . . willy-nilly . . .
from award-winning crossword puzzles . . .
This is only the beginning . . .

Adamo de Pax

Screen Dump 175

With you . . . glittery gowned . . . examining the aftermath . . .
afraid that too much happened . . . too soon . . .
A plate of spaghetti forgotten . . .
Your lush life reflected . . . in too many mirrors . . .
Before you know it . . . you are recast as an opportunist . . .
or an optimist . . . which is it? . . .
who will do anything to curry favor . . .
for a dime bag . . . of antioxidants . . .
You sleep in the spare room . . . within its spareness . . .
within its untrammeled willingness to accommodate . . .
within its DSM-5 single axis assessments . . .
to say nothing of its outlandish vistas . . .
There are voices in the walls of the spare room . . .
narrating the pixels of your unexamined life . . .
dealing anecdotes on the sullen streets of your city . . .
You feature countless times . . .
and appear . . . a moment too soon . . .
on several occasions . . .
Little of import happens . . .
until the players . . . with their parts . . .
enter the spare room . . .
relinquishing their passed-over lives . . .
all spiffed-up, of course . . .
just like in the good old days . . .
when spare rooms made for exaggerated expressions . . .
by players escorted therein . . .
following the dotted line of the body's shadowy escarpments . . .
and where by chance . . . and only then . . .
would the truth of the matter rear its head . . .
Three sheets to the wind . . . again . . . and again . . .

Wendy Bevan

Screen Dump 174

You have sped through intersections . . .
and gotten away with murder . . .
in a surprising conjunction of opposites . . .
When was the last time you checked your email . . .
for walk-ins . . . interlopers . . .
and other borderline personalities? . . .
In absentia . . . can be fun . . .
and you will have enough time . . . this time . . .
to complete the assignment . . .
should you choose to do so . . .
and . . . it would behoove you to do so . . .
The intimacy of the bubbles . . .
slipping out of Jobs's dent in the universe . . .
is good . . . and wishful . . .
We should be happy . . . and we are . . .
despite the bloodshot eyes of time . . .
which never close . . .
Your therapist has been briefed . . .
to see or not to see . . . which meds . . .
do the trick . . .
the trick . . . not unlike priming yourself . . .
by scanning lines . . .
from a few of your favorite reads . . .
I myself will go with the aftershock . . .
of discovering misspellings in ATMs . . .

Akif Hakan

Screen Dump 173

Riding the buses was like being trapped in a Samuel Beckett play.
          - Lance Austin Olsen

As if these award-winning vignettes . . . informed your life . . .
The steps to . . . and from . . .
Your life as hypertext markup . . . with sidebars . . .
for family . . . and friends . . .
La familia de Cecilia . . . remember that . . . from freshman lab? . . .
Recording five piano suites . . .
commemorating imaginary events . . . in your life . . .
Isn't this what matters? . . .
Little consensus here . . . As expected? . . .
A knock on the door . . . the scene begins . . .
with widescreen guitar rock . . .
Field recordings . . . and why not? . . .
Improvising on the script . . . always a trip . . . and he/she knows it . . .

Wendy Bevan

Screen Dump 172

Never use the definite article . . . with me . . . she said . . .
I realized then I was wearing a tie . . .
and fiddling with it . . . fiddling with it . . . fiddling . . . with it . . .

Emmanuelle Seigner

Screen Dump 171

The gaming tables open with rhetorical questions . . .
and you . . . dressed for the roll . . .
insist on the provocativeness of Polaroids . . .

There is always something else . . .
always something cutting into the rapprochement . . .
always something that needs to be done . . . or should be . . .

Building an argument for change, for example . . .
Your pins reflecting wanderlust . . .
as if you have been waiting all your life for the barbarians . . .

You tally moments . . . archiving appropriations . . .
with an eye toward sitcoms . . .
Off camera, you worry perspective . . . and momentum . . .

This is not the first time . . . or the last . . .
Taking what's happening now . . .
and imagining what would happen if it kept happening . . .

Wendy Bevan

Screen Dump 170

You like to start the day . . . with your own coffee . . .
in your own cup . . .
despite the distress of your heels . . .
on the sidewalk . . . at four AM . . .

You never stay the night . . .
What would you talk about in the morning? . . .
You're speaking in a rumor of pentameter . . .
as Dante's Francesca . . .

You have stepped outside for a smoke . . .
taking notes . . . codifying liaisons . . .
(You're tempted to tweet but there's no cell service down here) . . .
The thought of beauty provokes rhetorical escalation . . .

but the winds in the Second Circle . . .
make it impossible to interview Phlegyas . . .
who has taken on the role of tour guide . . .
as if on a London double-decker . . .

What's with the coins in the passengers' mouths? . . .
Doesn't this boat have autopilot? . . .
And why is it so damn hot? . . . I could use a drink! . . .
Where's the waiter? . . . The service here sucks! . . .

Your husband's brother, yes? . . .
Ten years, yes? . . .
And now? . . . the game over . . . the word out . . .
banished . . . forever . . . to this maelstrom . . .

How often did you sillify encounters . . .
dismantling the false sincerity with jelly dripping from your lips? . . .
How often . . . in your excitement . . .
did you drop the hardcover into the bathwater? . . .

Screen Dump 169

You fill your notebook . . . with admonitions . . .
Not bothering to correct misspellings . . .

Screen Dump 168

You take a number and stare at the meats in the deli case . . .
You have survived another trip to Neverland . . .
where incomplete sentences are diagrammed in full view . . .
and pieces of jigsaw cavort to exhaustion . . .
Oblivion changes color . . . again . . .
You are tempted to phone a friend . . .
The deficits of seduction stare you down . . .
Not since . . . you can't remember . . .
An RV goes by . . .
brimming . . . with circus performers . . .
from your old neighborhood . . .
friends who spent far too many nights . . .
brushing with whiteners . . . while asking ATMs . . .
over and over . . . How do I look? . . .
Could it have been any other way? . . .
Review . . . again . . . your options on the drop-down menu . . .
the ones not grayed-out . . .
The caged bird sings off-key . . .
dreams of coloring outside the line . . .
lip-syncs Pulitzer'd composer John Luther Adams's . . .
In the White Silence . . .
You begin to fog from Abilify . . .
when images of your analyst texting . . .
while you spill your guts . . . slap you back . . .
A session In the Night Kitchen would upend his redacted ass . . .

Screen Dump 167

The unmooring . . . abandoning the original phrasing . . .
losing the delightful peculiarities . . .
of playing rubato . . .
as if the subtext from Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage . . .
had made its dispassionate way . . .
through cyberspace . . . into your inbox . . .
You are between scenes . . . between roles . . .
between lovers . . . between . . .
an exemplar of élan . . .
of sweetening the stakes . . .
which more often than not plays out in your favor . . .
as the lights of time quench the sky . . .
with the warm repetition of place . . .
The motion to open has been ignored . . .
or misplaced . . . whichever . . . the redundancy resurfacing . . .
reassuringly . . .
as votaries engage an infinite loop . . .

Marie Fleur Charlesworth

Screen Dump 166

Reading between the lines to new ways of listening . . .
Curatorial duties aside . . .
Who knows? . . . You could be next . . .
With those ramifications . . .
Snowshoeing? . . . On a shoestring? . . .
Into Great Silence? . . . To hear what you see . . .
Pirating conversations with yourself . . .
with others . . .
then doing a one-eighty and returning to your yurt . . .
far from the insistent irrelevancies . . .
of ubiquitous machines . . .
Say again? . . .
Several are impressed by the way you handle intrusions . . .
Wild nights - wild nights! . . . Were I with thee . . .
Not that you couldn't shine . . . if pressed . . .
Have you read the latest doggerel . . . per whomever? . . .

Screen Dump 165

It matters if you want it to matter.
          - Maxine Kumin

But what about contextual heft? . . .
Words corralled from undergraduate syllabi? . . .
Cashing in before stepping out . . .
or stepping on . . .
or stepping over . . .
Always the problem of irrevocability . . .
Of crossing the bridge . . .

For work? . . . Pegged pants and cable knit sweaters . . .

Act 2 Scene 1 . . . In the red Cobra . . .

My height intimidates players . . .
They love it! . . .
Especially after googling wine lists . . . as if . . .
Always the same sluggish words . . .
Where are you from? . . . What do you do? . . . blah blah blah . . .
I traffic in consumables . . .
Packaged as in . . . As You Like It . . .
I hold the aces . . .
Control the scene . . .
Flip the roles . . .
But always . . . Far from the Madding Crowd . . .
I never anticipate counting ceiling tiles . . .
Make the most of a (sometimes) pathetic situation . . .
Ready or not, here I come . . . Oh yeah! . . .

The food networks . . . among others . . . want in . . .
As was Sappho's choice on Lesbos . . .
And now? . . . All accounting? . . . Retrospective . . .
Appropriated and - ideally seamlessly - embellished . . .

Take me in . . .
Feed me . . .
What big lips you have . . .
All the better . . .

David Benoliel

Screen Dump 164

A thin arm makes a face sadder.
          - Anne Carson, Short Talks

All subsequent failures will be given the benefit of the doubt . . .
All subsequent features will be given the benefit of the doubt . . .
Re-examined for negligence . . . sort of . . .
Encouraged to resubmit . . .
It's the paperwork that's work . . .
Pressed into service . . . by whom? . . .
Did you really think you could/would get away with it? . . .
Many of the dead walking behind us . . . are victims of love . . .
Too many are chomping (champing?) at the bit . . .
Worrying aloneness . . . as a talisman . . .
In abeyance . . .
Of course? . . . he/she said . . . eventually . . .
Relishing the idea of thick skin . . .
Of thin skin . . .
Of second skin . . .
Of skin . . .
And this too with little regard for the moment . . .
Doesn't it seem advantageous to be left high and dry? . . .
To be left . . . on your own . . .
I mean the matter at hand, yes? . . .
To be fascinated by frontispieces . . . as it were . . .
and makeshift shelters which . . . who knows . . . could hold the key . . .
He/she has put out feelers . . .
working on his/her profile late into the night . . .
with several chiming in . . .
after the (Greek) chorus . . . had eaten their fill . . .
and packed it in . . .
The importance of someone to yearn for . . . to pine after . . .
To lean on . . .
Lean on me when you're not strong . . .
And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on . . .
The first geisha were men, yes? . . .
jesters, entertainers . . . talk show hosts . . . life coaches . . .
My head spins . . . with images of gambits . . .
A red Cobra . . . with you . . .
In transit . . .
In hot pink costume . . . zippered no less! . . .
In control . . .
In charge . . .
In and out . . .
In touch . . . (as in I'll be) . . .
In the moment . . .
In as far as I can go . . .
In too deep . . .
In . . . terruptus . . .
The finds at archaeological digs have led many astray . . .
And continue to do so each and every day . . .

Sarah Moon

Screen Dump 163

I understood that I was wasting time that would never return,
that I was losing hours that could have been beautiful.
          - Alexandra David-Neel

You reinsert pronouns . . . into your stories within stories . . .
because they welcome a seductive angularity . . .
the intricacies of intimacy . . . of running into him/her . . .
in a parking lot . . . in the next town over . . .
You're happy that he/she is happy . . .
(and you're pretty sure you're being honest with yourself) . . .
Memories flood the five minutes . . .
both of you blue-penciling the script . . .
both sides of the menu vying for your attention . . .
Not interested in the specials? . . .
Ghosts of living friends as character witnesses . . .
In another place . . . another time . . . there would be . . .
There would be what? . . . Unanswerables? . . .
Unfair! . . . and unnecessary! . . .
You have wasted enough time . . . polishing the stones . . .
of the New Year . . .
Move on to the next item on your to-do list . . .
Perhaps you should retrieve dry eyes . . . from the dumpster . . .
examine them for their provenance . . .
their classic lines . . . their beautiful unexpectedness? . . .

Wendy Bevan

Screen Dump 162

A fatuous day . . . A feet-on-dash kind of day . . .
smacking of meta . . . This is happening . . .
and this is happening . . . about happening . . .
And you . . . again . . . engaging and animated . . .
They flocked to the watering hole . . .
pining for the way things used to be . . .
I wanted to pontificate about something . . . about anything . . .
but there were signs all around spelling out appropriate behavior . . .
competing with signs for administering the Heimlich . . .

We interrupt this screen dump for the following PSA . . .
Of the 12,982 forensic autopsies performed . . .
between 1947 and 1988 . . .
78 cases of café coronary due to bolus impaction in the larynx . . .
(bolus death) were reported . . .
[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1424826] . . .

You never know . . . You just never know . . .
You collected empties (not new) . . .
and compared paint chips (new) . . .
rarely returning before 4 AM . . .
to your monkishly regimented life . . . in the exurbs . . .
Few got past second base . . .
despite your prancing around the dugout . . .
in a short puffy uniform . . .
Since back then it was all about you as comptroller, yes? . . .

Peter Lindbergh

Screen Dump 161

You tweaked street signs . . . then pulled up stakes . . .
with no forwarding address . . .
And now it's your turn to shave . . .
Your turn to become an A B C D . . . F student . . .
a Playboy (Bunny) of the Western World . . .
long in the tooth . . .
mis-directing traffic . . . down one-way streets . . .
littered . . . with black and white . . .
round-screen Stromberg-Carlsons . . . from the '50s . . .
retrofitted for Netflix . . .
and Once Upon a (Prime) Time . . .
You were hyperaware of incidental music . . .
A pro in the confessional . . .
The plot may not even be fully summerizable . . .

Anka Zhuravleva

Screen Dump 160

But there's an untidiness to it . . . a seductive untidiness . . .
An untidiness that can spellbind . . .
As in green . . . the fugitive and unstable pigment . . .
If the green's good . . . it's all good . . .
all pigments . . . on copper . . . especially . . .
Taking notes . . . in invisible ink . . .
Handing in assignments . . . in invisible ink . . .
Hanging upside down . . . for extra credit . . .
demonstrating the latest . . .
in roundabouts . . . in cardiac care . . .
the dilemma continuing . . .
through railroad crossings . . . checkout counters . . .
heavy metal detectors . . .
streets of suspended sentences . . .
A three-ring circus . . . a one-ring circus . . .
a private session . . .
with you . . . bows in your hair . . .
as resident sword swallower . . .
Tracking the progress of (dis)cards . . .
The nitty-grittiness . . . and all that jazz . . .
The hills alive with sublime iterations . . .
of your (dance) routine . . .
And you . . . through the eye of a needle . . .
fingered . . . in the three R's . . .
comparing nursery rhymes . . . to-do lists . . .
Fancying ourselves special . . . if for no other reason . . .

Wendy Bevan

Screen Dump 159

I was not in the mood for visitors.
          - André Breton

Alone, I think of cloud cover . . . and the state of affairs . . .
that took possession of you late last night . . .
forcing you into a '70's mood ring . . .
trampled by the exoticism of time and place . . .
I always try to gather myself, yes? . . .
and last night was no exception . . .
You could have at least cleared the air . . .
opened up, so to speak . . .
but instead . . . you got behind the wheel . . .
and drove away . . . into a summer day . . .
while coffee tables sighed . . .
under pics of manspreads . . . and failed hustlers . . .
Playing visiting nurse . . . cold turkey . . .
wiping the hours clean . . .
your muse grabbing a ride from the party . . .
of the first part . . .
when relinquished opportunists . . .
flooded the anti-chamber . . .
bottlenecking egress . . . for visitors who wouldn't listen . . .
and drove you bananas . . . with their could care less . . .

Paolo Roversi

Screen Dump 158

The new epoch began a few minutes ago . . .
without . . . Buy One . . . Get One . . .
without fanfare figuration or abstraction . . .
(as if those elements have something to do with it!) . . .
I too have felt the persistent drama . . .
of stalemate . . .
the appropriation and embellishment . . .
of both open and closed mics . . .
though I find it hard to imagine . . .
each of us with a common core . . .
Never forget the sodium levels of lame ducks . . .
They preceded us . . . and unrecognized . . .
they could blow clear through the roof . . .
He/she is running out the door . . . in summer pants . . .
Can you believe the aimless ceremony? . . .
The disproportionate translation? . . .
The squalor . . . marvelous . . . yet form-fitting . . .
inciting a melee among those in transition? . . .

Wendy Bevan

Screen Dump 157

Your usual definition of fun jumped bail . . .
Out the window . . .
Now what? . . .
Now you're re-arranging polar opposites? . . .
Mis-labeling intentions? . . .
Insisting on misrepresentations . . . mis-translations? . . .
What about sandwich money? . . .
Entering the day . . . cold . . . then colder . . .
OK, we can do this! . . .
It's not so bad . . . Not bad at all in fact . . .
Ha! . . . once yoga class is behind us . . .
On a clear day . . .
But it's not a clear day! . . .
Just assume the position . . . and don't let on . . .

Wendy Bevan

Screen Dump 156

Flirting . . . again . . . with the outer limits . . .
With movements . . . gestures . . . monodramatics . . .
Pics . . . of you . . . 10, 20 years ago . . .
unabashedly autobiographical . . .
the too-clumsily-explicit sections excised . . .
leaving nothing but self-translations . . .
Notwithstanding . . .
Sucked in by the makeover . . .
By the that was then . . . this is now . . .
Such unironic enthusiasms . . .
Never again . . .
I have come undone! . . .
and escaped through a hidden panel in the refrigerator . . .
Beating yourself up? . . .
You were you . . . wrestling with demons . . .
who . . . out of habit . . . made the doughnuts . . .
and the parlez-vous français? . . .
and the midnight rides . . . to all the wrong places . . .
Defacing profiles with neon pink spray paint . . .
and misquotes . . . from overdue library books . . .

Sarah Moon

Screen Dump 155

Spooool!
          - Samuel Beckett, Krapp's Last Tape

Spool! . . . Spool! . . . Spooool! . . . Spool! . . . Spooool! . . .
Miles . . . Blue In Green . . .
There are no mistakes! . . .
Spool! . . .
The evidentiary moment . . .
Assemble the players . . . and the accoutrements . . .
Life as analogy . . . as oxymoron . . . mishap . . .
Spooool! . . .
Re-position the pieces . . . please! . . .
Attempt a recap . . . a remix . . .
But I want this! . . .
I am ready for this! . . .
The tutoring . . . over! . . .
The hand-holding . . . over!
The hiatus . . . over! . . .
In the starting blocks! . . .
Ready! . . . Set! . . .
Yes! . . . Yes! . . . Yes! . . .
This! . . . Now! . . .
Tweeting the hell out of insignificants . . .
Spool! . . . Spool! . . . Spooool! . . .
What . . . spool? . . .
The Age of the Mac . . . upon us! . . .
Grocery shopping . . . at best . . .
I am so into Amazon Samples! . . .
and haute cuisine . . .
There will be . . . then . . .
And you will have flashbacks . . . setbacks . . .
They will bludgeon you . . . Knock you from sleep . . .
Force you to follow . . .
No darkness . . . Spooool! . . .

Lydia Roberts

Screen Dump 154

Your inner stand-up comic insists he/she never blacked out . . .
Always delivered lines . . . impeccably . . .
I am sure about who I did what with . . .
Is that who . . . or whom? . . .
Trawling for the Big One . . . (or the almost Big One) . . .
Earth Angel Earth Angel . . . will you be mine? . . .
Sanding down the bedposts . . . again . . . trashed . . .
That we could all be so perfect . . .
Segue to you . . . texting the Greek chorus . . .
I'm unclear about one spot only, your Honor . . .
Certain follow-throughs were off-limits, of course . . .
at the funeral . . . the wedding . . . the arraignment . . .
Can't you see I'm costumed as Aphrodite? . . .
Walking in . . . delivering lines . . . cold . . .
They were marionettes . . . all of them . . .
Eager as altar boys . . . Wouldn't you be? . . .
I reversed the roles . . . set the pace . . . faster . . . slower . . .
You tell me . . . I'll tell you, yes? . . .
Eyes wide . . . cued the 12 steps . . . Ready Set Go! . . .
All episodes . . . Now streaming! . . .
Why is Popeye here? . . .
And why is he having second thoughts about Olive Oyl? . . .

Lydia Roberts

Screen Dump 153

Your sequined angularities . . . at a time like this . . .
A time when sidewalks . . . can lead you astray . . .
Can compel you to tweak your memories . . . your incidentals . . .
They make me want to re-script my dreams . . .
and join the picture-perfect crowd . . . for drinks . . .
Sometimes it's like that . . .
Quite frankly, yes? . . .
Not to be confused with the truth of the matter . . .
Now what? . . . A new view? . . . A new you? . . .
Always the gamble following the initial ice-break . . .
We'd like to blame it on the snowstorm, yes? . . .
Images . . . flooding in . . .
There's only so much your finger in the dike can hold back . . .
At this stage . . . anyway . . .
And then . . . the tabloids arrive . . . with payback time . . .
And a delivery boy/girl demanding a tip . . .

Wendy Bevan

Screen Dump 152

Fact checkers check your facts . . .
Riffling through your backpack for dark chocolate . . .
and other antioxidants . . .
Instead of the usual . . . you order the special . . .
Flipping through a Lands' End catalog . . .
You notice them at the race checking you out . . .
Lycras have a way of doing that . . .
The supermarket opens its doors . . .
with free courses for seniors . . .
Perhaps Interpersonal Dynamics of the 1200s . . .
holds the key . . .
Fictionalizing . . . but not storytelling . . .
A giant divagation, yes? . . .
Watching trailers on Netflix . . . subtitled . . .
It's always good to be packed and ready . . .

Paolo Roversi

Screen Dump 151

The cereal box opens with a soft shoe . . .
Interrogators are again trying . . . to map your profile . . .
to make sense . . . of your odyssey . . .
The syllabus for your canon . . . cryptic . . .
You highlight . . . the (pen)ultimatum . . .
in red yellow blue . . .
and get stuck on the word s-p-o-o-l . . .
as the elements of a Rough Guide . . .
skitter out of earshot . . .
Pics of players . . . squeeze into the Cloud . . .
tracked by the trance music . . .
you have come to be identified with . . .
You decide to put it all down . . . in a book . . .
inspired and intimidated . . .
by the masters of your art . . .
the masturbators of your art . . .
staring down at you from their place on the wall . . .
If only you had the wordmagic of a Patti Smith . . .

Screen Dump 150

You toggle between you and you . . . and you . . . and you . . .
Between now and then . . .
Between couch and cutting room floor . . .
Between window . . . and door . . .
The HOT button dumping reams of words . . .
Mounds of insignificance . . .
Dancing on the edge of dreams . . .
What else can one do? . . .
When all we have is language . . .
That's it . . . nothing else . . . in a bell jar, yes? . . .
The voice distant . . .
connecting . . . disconnecting . . . connecting again . . .
You . . . walking across a field . . . of ficus trees . . .
Every step . . . a new step . . .
Handlers . . . as sound designers . . .
Falling off the wagon . . . climbing back on . . .
It's crowded out here . . . in the waiting room . . .
The therapist suggests a monologue . . .
As a ficus tree . . .
Just what the PA ordered, yes? . . .
Not sure what that's all about . . .
Kind of like a call-and-response . . .
You call . . . but there's no reply . . .
Now what? . . .
Do you call again . . . or pack it in? . . .
The camera zooms in on a clock . . .
The clock's hands are trying to grab something . . .
Anything . . .
The camera pans a crowd . . .
They're waiting to see what you're going to do . . .
Bookmakers are giving odds . . .
A few hookers are giving head . . .
You decide to re-sing the lyrics . . .
to (what you hope will be) your next big hit . . .
Tweeting your whereabouts to dispassionate third parties . . .
It's all scenery . . .
No it's not! . . . He/she said it's all theater! . . .
Ah ha! . . . Please have him/her contact me! . . .

Screen Dump 149

Your uniformed erotic other conjugates verbs . . .
for flower handlers . . . and Rockaday Johnnies . . .
after hours . . . on the desktop . . .
waterlogged . . . gasping for breath . . .
thinking it cool . . . by the metric of then . . .
The streets fill with Ferraris . . . and other aspirazioni . . .
Living casually . . . long windswept arms . . .
welcome rough liaisons . . .
the clock insisting on a face . . .
You are sized-up . . . for Paris . . . or Rome . . .
or wherever . . . but instead hook up . . .
with the Goodenoughs . . .
in a trailer park outside Atlantic City . . .
harvesting cartwheels . . . for pocket change . . .
and lonesome grins . . .
your gymnastics occasioning motion sickness . . .
The weather eventually arrives . . . with a show of hands . . .
breaking off the lush . . . to explore . . .
another aspect . . . of your to-die-for glamour . . .
asleep with excitement . . .
The schoolmarm's hourglass . . . pouting with bittersweets . . .

Sarah Moon

Screen Dump 148

The season of dancing was endless.
          - Mark Strand, The Delirium Waltz

Importunity knocks . . . and you know it's him/her . . .
in Spanish boots of Spanish leather . . .
against December's passing grade . . .
As if a transit strike struck . . . bottlenecking neighborhoods . . .
Nothing to fret about . . . bad weather is bad weather . . .
Yet . . . the downhill . . .
Your professed unworthiness preempted by costume . . .
iCandy . . . for victims of Seduction Theory 101 . . .
Never far from the panopticon of theater . . .
Words receding into the artisanal urns lining the walls . . .
pinned with pics of nobodies . . .
The season of dancing begins . . .
The lights are low . . . the air warm . . .
You glide with him/her . . .
across polished wood inlaid marble light snow shallow water . . .
You want to have arrived, yes? . . .
Of course you can summon the limo at any time . . . or thereabouts . . .

Sarah Moon