week nine

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sometimes i lie...
and sometimes i read blogs
and i write down the names of people
whose entries i don't like and then i look them up on facebook
and then i kill them...
but sometimes i lie...
sometimes.

dane cannon

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on being an inner-city pre-school teacher

i know you are full of all the rage your small body can hold
that you want to kick me in the shin and throw a handful of dirt
but you just used all your force to unfairly push down a peer of yours
no, it doesn’t matter that he was on the swing and you wanted it too.

so I need you to say you are sorry.
no, try it again, say you are sorry like you mean it.
even though you don’t, and you won’t anytime soon.
but say it like you mean it, because statistically speaking,
in a few years, you will be a parent, shoot someone,
steal something, and drop out of high school.
you are supposed to do things wrong and not feel any remorse
and go to jail where you will learn your lesson.
and you are so much better than that.
so please, I beg you, say you are sorry like you mean it,
because maybe, if I make you insincerely say
it a 1000 times, you will learn to mean it,
and your apologies and penitence
will stay right here, on the playground.

megan morton

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an ode

dang little barbie mustang
so fast so smooth
until you met your fate in wendover
where all joy rides must end
curse the world

(photo taken yesterday in wendover nv)


















myron nilsson

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a leaf that has lost its color

at least when it began to die
it had a brilliant display of color -
"going out with a bang," they'd say.

now it's just a stiff and wrinkled frame
in parts almost see-through -
hanging on for hanging on's sake.

in months past it hadn't cared about the storms,
not pausing its photosynthesis
as it was battered and bent and blown.

but today, more likely than not,
it will fall to less than a slight wind -
it will fall to a nothing.

just the passing thought of a breeze
and the holding on will seem too much,
the stem giving a final sigh as it slips.

and the branch rises an indiscernible millimeter
as it is relieved of a fifth an ounce.


i'm one of those kids

i "ruin" the carefully prepared cake
by eating it with a spoon

and pick out all the good laffy taffys,
leaving a bowl of yellows.

austinrory hackett

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i was one of the lucky ones
born with it
red stuff sitting up there on top of my head.
wavin, grabbin, teasin, and pleasin.
it's hard to get, but easy to have.
you love it, you hate it, they want it, i got it.

holly jo hackett

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neccessary

i used to cheat on my spelling tests in the first grade
and i must have been cursed for it because to this day
i still wonder every time if i am spelling 'necessary' right.

bianca merkley

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would you rather be a rapping turtle,
or a rapper who can only make turtle noises?

rory bruggeman

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don't get sassy with me

don't get sassy with me
"there are mosquitoes in here", she says

-is this bit senseless because i'm actually not that creative and so i attempt to confuse in hopes that no meaning is interpreted as meaningful and insightful?
this jib is up!
i'm so elite that i insult myself over and over.

erik fullmer

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ming song wang
noodle noodle bang

++anonymous++

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ten person bicycle

ever since i was 9 years old i have collected firearms

my only requirement for the firearms i collect is that

they are taller than me when held vertically

nothing better than a big gun

except big guns with big ammunition

you can get a lot of killing done when you have a big gun

with big bullets

and a big attitude

man i have a big attitude

the only thing better than a big gun with big bullets is

my big attitude

and a bunch of hamburger in the shape of a cat

chris duce

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pipe dreams

it came like lighting
we all cheered
even the dead danced.
and now the moment you've all been waiting for...
it was all just plastic.


acquiescence of evil

it was inside intellectual exhibitionism
and colloquial drivel.
inside draconian laws
and copious hours of work.
inside hyperbolic phrases
and vacuous chit chat.
we all saw it
and just continued on.
the devil really was in the details.
and so it shows...

ricky cheney

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shine on me

week nine is thyme
week nine is myne

nah nah dippin dah

i want to swim
i want with jim

she's a swiggin her coke and
man such a joke

why's she willy
all she wants to tilly

is about her week nine
so so fine
wish it was twine

to look so shine - ee

this is my poet tree tea
oh austybaby
enjoy and sip sip


here's the tina fey show....

my foot is an anchor and no one cares
it's sleeping
just like my heart
just like my tongue
take it away, i don't want to be down

lindsey williams

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week eight

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let's suppose for one moment that it was actually raining men.

rory bruggeman

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skull truck

my eyes are like two overweight astronauts

nobody wants to put them on a rocket

not even a really big one

i know that nobody believes me, but its extremely

disheartening

now, the only way i'm going to cheer up is if you buy

me the full house complete series collection

and its $109.99 on amazon

thats a lot of money!

the only way i'm going to be able to afford it is if i sell

a lot more plasma

and we all know that i probably shouldn't be donating anyways

because i answer no

when i should answer yes

its so easy to lie to a nurse that only gets paid like 7 dollars

an hour

chris duce

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somebody's game

. a crawling ant
moving through the endless grass field
. it climbs a plant -
a lone dandelion revealed
only to the ant's sense of feel.

. the young boy
also crawling (but smashing too)
. finds such joy
'bove the ant to see what he'll do
confronting each obstacle new.

. total power
the boy shakes the small ant off each
. conquered flower
and makes a new stronghold to breach
while coaching him with unheard speech.

. and then who knows
if some great being from on high
. or down below
is laughing, unseen to our eyes,
playing the same game with our lives.


beach #3

if life is a beach
then you must be the horses
that crap on the beach


homework

i should be working
hard on my final paper,
not writing haikus


easter

because of easter
i was completely convinced
that rabbits laid eggs


aye

somali pirates -
jack sparrows of '09.
a modern black pearl.

austinrory hackett

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just some get words

all my memories feel like dreams.
i'm tired of living in the abstract.
all my purchases are selling my soul.
i'm tired of seeing my surroundings in dollars.
all my friends have four legs,
some just use two for the ground.
all my thoughts want to be born,
just some get words.

ricky cheney

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easter brunch

will you be my dead beat boyfriend?
your baby blues and tattoos

i will be your life ceded girlfriend
my own vehicle and grad school

breanne chipman

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dear bastard who broke in,

you tried to corner me in my room. you tried to intimidate me in my house.
may the good lord show you no mercy, cause i certainly won't.

if you come again, i will open a large can of whoopass.
literally, whoopass(tm) pepper spray.

oh, as a post script, i saw your face. does that make you nervous, just a little?

never yours,

jana kopeinig

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untitled #1; or, it's got layers

"slow motion fo' may" said mc botecelli, the rapping turtle

chris crosby

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mattress

she expels the light in hopes of feeling.
in the dark she rests easy
and her feet are barely moving...
there is a basement with the mattress on the ground
its form is fit and the pillow stains are maintained by tears
and he spent his time lying at her side
but his ignorance not helping
unable to fully sense the pain she was exerting
and now the regrets that are regrettable
are useless because both their feet
refuse to move to what is needed
and each stay alone in the basement
with a mattress on the ground.

erik fullmer

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the difference between a writer and someone else

i can’t write right now.
ugh, that write next to the right,
that can not be write, I mean right.
i can not be clever write now.

i can’t write imagery right now,
i can not aid my graphite tool to evade the
blankness of the blue lined bunk-bed paper.
i am too tired to be creative.

i can’t possibly stay focused on the one topic,
of not being able to write,
not being able to communicate the sincere ideas and
unique truths that only i possess.
i am too distracted right now.

and worst of all, i do not know of a time
when i will be more clever, less tired,
less distracted.
therefore, i shall never write.

megan morton

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i wonder what it was like before this life.....
like how old was i?... and did i live in the presence
of heavenly angels?
when did my soul enter my body?... and did it travel far?
is there time between premortal life and birth? and if so -
would i have been quick enough
to push right left down up a b start?
and what if i did that,
shouldn't i technically be buddhist then?
so much to ponder

rich curtis

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dear new girl,

i dont care
that you're from austin.
it doesn't make you a badass.
i dont care
that you read watchmen before the movie came out.
the movie sucked anyways.
i dont care
that all you drink is diet coke.
i hate hearing you open it every ten minutes. stop it.
i dont care
that you have stds. gross. do not tell me that.
grow up. and keep your pants on.
i dont care
that you're pissed when i tell you what to do.
you're new. i'm not. get over it.
but i do care
that you're nice to me. thanks. keep it up.
sincerely,

anonymous

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star light star bright,
the first star i see tonight,
i wish i may, i wish i might,
but please don't let it be tonight

++anonymous++

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i dream about driving.
solely for the scenery and solitude.
i even considered a career in
trucking - a truly taxing trade.
i imagine
me, with windows wound down,
the road reaching out,
and steely dan singing to my soul.
perfection.
the lone liability of this livelihood
(that i can think through)
is how big my butt would be.

lissa kennedy

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spring cleaning

i started spring cleaning yesterday

of my room and my life.

there were three bins:

keep.

throw out.

donate.

books that i intend on reading. keep.

a circus clown trying to juggle me and another girl. throw out.

old running shirts. donate.

my retainer. throw out.

boy who gives me butterflies. keep.

notes from jr. high. throw out.

old mission clothes. donate.

an actor for a friend. throw out.

my vital organs. donate. if not needed.

mom who loves unconditionally. keep.

memory of him. want to throw out, but keep.

memory of you and me, us. keep. forever.


self assessment

i self assessed me last week.

because i desire to be happier.

happier than who, im not sure.

so i made lists.

lists of things i need to do

things i want to do

and things i need to stop

there were different areas of focus

physical

mental

spiritual

emotional

social

each area had sub categories

the lists grew and grew.

i felt overwhelmed.

i had so much to do,

so much to change.

the lists were all i thought about.

i kept adding to the list.

changing the list.

every time i saw someone

who seemed happier than i

i assessed them,

then assessed the list.

i didn't know where to stop

or start.

i hated the list.

then one day i went to add to the list

i couldn't find it. nowhere. gone.

i couldn't remember all the areas and categories

that i needed to change

and all of a sudden i felt so much

happier.

aly cain

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the unknown

sometimes a panic washes over me...
that in 6 months, who knows where i'll be.
graduation is coming in just a few weeks,
and a new chapter begins of endless possibilities.

bianca merkely

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week seven

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sue

i fell out of your tree can cut open my leg;
i slept at your house every birthday eve;
your basement terrified me.
my drawings of yin-yangs and soccer balls were still up
in your vacant home
the night you fell.
i wasn't there to comfort you,
like you were for me.
you used to cut comics out of the paper,
but only the wittiest.
i can't believe i used to love your repugnant
tuna/cheezewhiz sandwiches.
i'd eat one right now though to have you back.
i'd stomach twenty of them to see you for an hour.
please god.
let me be twelve, let me have my embarrassing bull-cut,
let me go to the park with her.
we'd go to the rocket park
and the one with the long slide.
i'd sleep over and let you tuck me in.
i'd play on the swings over the ditch for hours
until you called me in for dinner,
standing at the door in your white velcro shoes.
please god.
let me slip through a chasm in time
from this zeitgeist of malaise
for one ephemeral visit
to that place unadulterated.
please god.

ricky cheney

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4/1/09 haiku

fake gmail accounts
serve for the creation of
many april fools


when i'm a doctor...

april 1st, 2023: hello mr maxwell. my name is doctor hackett. i'm sorry to write you at such short notice, but we have a dire emergency. your sister is here in the emergency room in utah, and she has a rapidly progressing disease that requires a kidney transplant. we have reviewed your family history and found that your precise blood match makes you the best donor candidate. since time is short, we ask you to please go immediately to your local emergency room and have them remove one of your kidneys and life flight it on ice here to salt lake city. your rapid cooperation is essential to the well-being of your dear sister. you are a brave man, mr maxwell. we thank and applaud you.

april 2nd, 2023: hello mr maxwell. april fools! enclosed is your kidney.

austinrory hackett

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freedom

freedom, freedom
sometimes i wish that freedom would tell me what to say
and point me int he direction that i have to take
i guess that's the price you pay for freedom, freedom

liberty, liberty
sometimes i wish that she would force me to go the right way
so if i made a mistake, i'd have her to blame
guess that's the price you pay for liberty, liberty

bianca merkley

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love at first sight

i suppose its possible.
but i'm not holding my breath.

sara thomas

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eek

i thought that there twisted in thought
was why wrinkles
could come
about as i asked anything and all about a
long lived lovely ludicrous lucky lustful life...

erik fullmer

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my best friend is an anorexic cyclops

on tuesdays i walk to the wash hut
completely undressed
on wednesdays i walk to in the venue
alongside carter as he rides his bike
on saturdays i make out with my ex girlfriend
in washington
i think i would do anything to make out with a girl
the only thing better than making out with girls is this

chris duce

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i was driving home late at night and i was stopped by a red light. i looked both ways and there was nothing else for miles. the crosswalk signal changed and a dog crossed the road. What kind of dog uses the crosswalk? as he passed he looked at me like I was crazy, so i yelled that he was the crazy one!


















jimmy bunting (submitted by myron)

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just a reminder

i got a reminder this week.
it was just one reminder
but it reminded me of a lot.
it reminded me to buy tampons.
which reminded me that i have no money.
that reminded me to get a job.
it reminded me of my level of pain tolerance.
that reminded me to take pain killers.
they make my stomach hurt if i don't ear
so it reminded me to eat.
it reminded me that when i eat
it makes me sick in every way possible.
that reminded me to take pepto and pain killers.
it reminded me to get the heating pad out.
that i am dependent on it for some form of relief.
it reminded me that i have a sex.
that i am different than those business men.
it reminded me that
in this world of equality
that i am not equal, i am superior
i have to be reminded every month
that i possess more power than they ever will
it reminded me that i can create life,
once i remembered that
i forgot all the rest

aly cain

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