As you may know if you read Evelyn’s blog Lisp Service, we recently completed the first issue of a literary magazine called Dewclaw. She’s written about the process extensively on her blog, so I’d recommend reading about it there.
The box of books arrived today, so now is the time to buy.
$9 plus $1 for shipping within the US (int’l shipping will cost more).
My role in the publication was mainly doing layout, though I also provided second opinions on submissions and moral support and things like that. This issue includes a poem that I wrote in a style cribbed from Diane Williams about eating at a Japanese restaurant. I like this poem, but I have to give significant credit to Diane Williams and sake.
he meandered
pandered and outnumbered
he remembered
his dear father
tending and incumbent
A bevvy whenever
remember?
expect he shifts around in combat
whenever that was
waiting aside with contrast
thought you had him
never asking less than conquest
his fits and starts appalled them
recall that
for shame
he never made it up to that
marking on the door frame
I’m sorry for how
the dinosaurs ruled the earth
they ruled it with an iron fist
they ruled it so they don’t
exist
anymore
now all they are as birds
they are up in the air
they are up in the air
or they were
baring yourself in the ritual of departure
the target isn’t arbitrary
it’s decided by the archer
text is merely parsed here
a sob can’t twist into a jeer
harder than you laughing
at a less stupid metaphor
go easy on the reekin’ goiter
spork over auditory warp core
forced goaded gauche notion
folk ropin’ toasted quotients
forty score mostly potent chrome strokers
voices melting chambly rollers
put a sock in mistle-tollers
post. neatly folded service post.
mantis for a dentist
my left heart got stung
woven like a fabric
now make me have fun
rental agreements with bellybutton fuzz
rake furrows in your cambium
can’t you be my only one
restake your assumptions and intentions
disable your protections
why not give ourselves a taste
we’re trying hard to balance
our egos and our haircuts
too busy now to notice
the things that reconnect us
’cause I’m weak weak weak I need you
I’m rolling in a dust bowl
are these my arms around my knees
turning back into a seed
take the giraffe mask off
so I can pretend that you’re a sloth
pop a fizzy knish off the ever-growin’ stack
info from data you claim you cannae ‘strack
grubbin’ at an ashcan for moldy toast crusts
order your options by what’ll generate the max flack
y’outta the loop like Chirac in a caddy
scrap the detail an’ focus on the main thrust
state your need gal I must just
grab ya where ya fatty
makin’ your body feel just like lumber
step up to the counter and show me your number
cheezy fake lightning crackles
it doesn’t look nothin’ like fractals
that boom is just a bang
muffled by my brain
My cheesy grin is just the spackle
post a link an’ spread the message
alla you’s rhymes is wreckage
y’all owe me a debt attention
or your fall is what I’ll presage
they takin’ bets on a roomba cockfight
crowin’ IRC bots on standby
academic trippin’ on a culture theory
backlink me ’til the server gets weary
gaurd your attention and ration it wisely
unintentionality will not do
keep your wits about you and please surprise me
I see you lookin’ at who’s lookin’ back atchoo
self-control has got a hold of me
my body’s underground
writing wishes on the interbeast
I’m gonna ride this fucker out
while drawing you a picture
or riding on the bus
if you should think about your neighbor
you shouldn’t think that funny stuff
sensibility feels an-ti-que
so you just keep it in your mouth
replace your smoke detector battery
when there’s a beeping in your house
why won’t the toaster oven listen up
I say it’s chirping out of turn
why’s your interface opaque to me
why do I feel my stomach churn
it’s not so likely that you’re anyone else
unpack your groceries and put them on the shelf
remind me not to
fall into stormdrains
make thinking faces when I’m looking at you
1. tropical depression
unbuckle your muzzle
face into the wind
make a friendly face at the enemies you invest in
race yourself to the front door
and let yourself win
eat broccoli on thursday and whenever you wish
allow yourself to sip
on a tumbler of gin
now repeat after me
as soon as I see
the whites of their eyes
they’ll be looking surprised
in the throes of a hymn
weekly trip to the conversationalist
leaves me thrifty and blank
reaping fenestral thanks
any repast sends me churning
see me breaking the ranks
watching for high wind
reclining in my skin
forcing down to the xylem
we have time to begin
