week thirteen

_________________________________________

in memory of my dad (1954-2009)

i started missing you in the grocery store.
i am not sure what triggered my sorrow.
maybe it was seeing the little girl that probably has a dad.
or the man that walked by wearing running shoes.
or the crispness of the carrots--
the yellow of the lemons,
the smell of doughnuts
or the sounds of squeaky cart wheels.

or maybe it was all of it.

the grocery store is about as everyday as it gets.
so maybe I cried because I was reminded that
everyday is exactly how long I am without you
and how often I will think of you and miss you.
so I started to cry. not sob, but undoubtedly tears.

I looked up to see a small 17 year old curly hair boy
with a green apron and a name tag.
what could I explain? so I missed you some more,
and soon some of your love and humor surrounded me,
so i looked at this boy tearfully and said,
"I just love good produce."

megan morton

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america: home of the free

in america: land of the brave,
we are free to wet ourselves
at first sight of an enemy.

we are free to worry
about nazis gassing us
through the heating vents,

and are free to board up
the heating vents
to prevent this.

in america: land of opportunity,
we are free to live at mom's
into our thirties

we are free to play second life
while our first one
goes on without us,

and are free to achieve nothing
admirable, praiseworthy,
or noticeable as a result.


billie jean

billie jean is still my lover
she's just a girl who claims that mj's the one,
but the kid is not his son.
she says he is the one,
but the kid's for sure my son.

austinrory hackett

_________________________________________

my face is pressed against a window

the rose-colored glass taunts me with a sing-song voice

sources of comfort, now seeming to know

join in on the joke, and laugh at his choice.

rude.

sara thomas

_________________________________________

band together pink saris

the pink sari gang strikes again!
widows against injustice
left a rapist with 2 black eyes,
the women are tired
and it's been unleashed.
"don't harm that woman, or your ass is ours".
shiva is our empowerment? no!
our single goddess is hot,
therefore, the tension is high
leaving only angry violence as our answer
now we control, so fear the pink sari
all ye rapers, beaters, violators, and dominators
of women.

erik fullmer

_________________________________________

low.as.long

sort of like a disease, but cuter.
death of the poet death of everything just death
death.death.death.death.
its sort of like an obsession. this death
but that day was moss and this
is death. still cute.
tile patterns like beehives in swimming pools
i will drown i've
practiced
in bathtubs alone
. . . . .in public water resorts
. . . . . . . . .i've practiced back
. . . . .towards the sun facing
. . . . . . . . .tiles in a swimming pool
. . . . .eyes open and chlorinated and
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . limp. my death
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .has been done
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .outside of tiles
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .and water, too.
. . . . . it runs exhausted low as long and
. . . . . . . . . . so untraditional a mossy day at death.
while the sun cuts up and wags the sky
across clouds beating drum kicks furious and rapid
i see the sun and swallow it entirely.
lodged in the back of my mouth for
a year and a half and then a new location
to the throat and a lick ride that color was
like moss with caterpillar skin.
and there the sun remains by my
lump of tissue blue and flesh and hopeful of
death with the sun whole and bound as a heart.


untitled

damn the entirety of this circle
each voice is incomplete
each voice is an opinion
damn each opinion

my voice
or an individual voice
is the turn table topic
truth in ink is the topic

individual voice
is not that of a group
is not yours
damn your opinion

this circle of people
is violating
personal creativity

sarah cutler

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myron's observations at the lake

7-18-2009, 12:37pm: a man skillfully maneuvers his late model, extended cab, 4x4 truck backward until the chrome wheels of the boat trailer are swallowed up from the lapping waves of utah lake. at the same moment a girl stands in the boat dutifully prepping the boat for its saturday showcase.

7-18-2009, 12:40pm: the next man skillfully maneuvers his late model, extended cab, 4x4 truck backward until the chrome wheels of the boat trailer are swallowed up from the lapping waves of utah lake. at the same moment the next girl stands in the boat dutifully prepping the boat for its saturday showcase.

7-18-2009, 12:44pm: the next man skillfully maneuvers his late model, extended cab, 4x4 truck backward until the chrome wheels of the boat trailer are swallowed up from the lapping waves of utah lake. at the same moment the next girl stands in the boat dutifully prepping the boat for its saturday showcase.

7-18-2009, 12:50pm: the next man skillfully maneuvers his late model, extended cab, 4x4 truck backward until the chrome wheels of the boat trailer are swallowed up from the lapping waves of utah lake. at the same moment the next girl stands in the boat dutifully prepping the boat for its saturday showcase.

7-18-2009, 12:57pm: the next man skillfully maneuvers his late model, extended cab, 4x4 truck backward until the chrome wheels of the boat trailer are swallowed up from the lapping waves of utah lake. at the same moment the next girl stands in the boat dutifully prepping the boat for its saturday showcase.

7-18-2009, 1:04pm: the next man skillfully maneuvers his late model, extended cab, 4x4 truck backward until the chrome wheels of the boat trailer are swallowed up from the lapping waves of utah lake. at the same moment the next girl stands in the boat dutifully prepping the boat for its saturday showcase.

7-18-2009, 1:09pm: the next man skillfully maneuvers his late model, extended cab, 4x4 truck backward until the chrome wheels of the boat trailer are swallowed up from the lapping waves of utah lake. at the same moment the next girl stands in the boat dutifully prepping the boat for its saturday showcase.

etc.

myron nilsson

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2s and 3s

life can be as simple as choosing-

this or that

here or there

now or later

up or down

right or left

and seclusion exclusion and inclusion

make or break the illusion

of walls made by us and them

you choose

rich curtis

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more than enough

im sure with each child

not just with me,

you wondered if

what you said and did

would ever be enough.

you pulled me through

when we both almost went.

you stood by me during

my twos, when i was terrible.

you taught me what it meant to learn

all through my elementary years.

you held your ground

when i was sure that mine was higher.

you helped put my head on straight

when i thought it looked better crooked.

you were my beam of hope for 18 months

when i had nothing else to hope for.

you reassure me that i should, i can, i will

every time im convinced i shouldnt, cant and wont.

when i think of how to thank you,

each gift i could give pales in comparison

to the gift of life you so graciously gave to me.

be it known mom, that in my life

what you said and what you did

all of it was

more than enough.

aly cain