week twenty one

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my mom

pick me up from soccer practice

cut me up some orange slices

capri sun

capri pants

tomato soup and grilled cheese

pajama pants on christmas eve

alex shahan

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time machine

last night i was visited by my future self. he (me, or i) said (will say?) i have lots to look forward to in the weeks ahead. he had borrowed the time machine from our friend the scientist, gard (future gard) and had stopped by on his way to see my life's most embarrasing moment which only happened last week. "really?" i say, "it doesnt get any worse than last week?" "have no fear, my young friend" he says as he pats me on the shoulder, "it will never be as bad as that last week of finals 2009." with that statement he walked back to the time machine, flipped a switch and waved as he shimmered and disappeared. it was only then that i realized my future self had come back a week too soon...

trav clark

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b is for boys at edp

b1: are you a cheerleader? me: no

b1: oh, well i really like your costume!

b2: hey i like your shoes

me: oh thanks, i like your suspenders.

b2: thanks, where did you get your tights?

me: umm i dont remember

b2: cause i have the same pair.

me: oh, thats weird..

b3: dayum girl i really like your style

me: haha thanks

b3: hey would you like to dance with me?

me: um i think i need to warm up first.. ha

b3: oh um ok.. well maybe later then...

30 minutes later..

b3:are you all warmed up yet?

me: uh yeah i guess so

b3: ok great so can we dance now?

me: well i dont really dance with boys.

b3: please just one dance im so into your style girl..

me: i really dont know how, i only dance by myself. sorry..

b4: hey can i take a picture with you??

me: um ok..

etc.

lindsay anonymous erickson

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139 north 500 east

i went to a birthday party for a boy i didn’t know.
i thought it would be fun, make some friends, say “hello.”
little did i know, i was about to have my sleeping heart awakened
by austin rory hackett.
the end.

claire russell, with editorial revisions by austinrory hackett

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i am a special kind of coward

i am a special kind of coward

i have all the warm and soft bits
the bits that sing the songs,
and hug and kiss and love
and laugh laugh laugh
and do all the joyful dancing

and i have the wet and weighty bits
the bits that cry the tears
and wish and hope and dream
and bleed bleed bleed
and do all the heavy longing

but i lack the nut-and-bolty bits
the bits that pay the bills
or earn or plan or save
or 8 to 5 to 8 to 5 to 8 to 5
or do all the busy marching

and here is where the fear begins
"the marching"
like maybe I'm just half a man
like all the juicy fleshy parts
but none of the skeleton

which is why i say i'm spineless

just s. guy

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calamity

calamity
is the exaggeration
of daylight roof dreams
gaining dignity
with sky breaks
and eye cries.

so play
before someone finds you,
bone-bare,
between your violin
and flying arms

unfold
that ear sweetener
for those rattling,
jawing mongrels,

or chase your innocence,
and your music,
beneath the tablecloth
and silver mantle,
against escape
or ever moving one finger
to ivory
or string
or sound.

lincoln wilder

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pockets of octopus suction cups

this leprosy, around, is reminiscent of last leprosy

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (and only other)

the location of which leprosy was a basement and a a boy

. . . . . . . . . . . . . (and gloves)

and drowned eyeballs in a car.

. . . . . . . . .pockets of octopus suction cups

sarah cutler

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little sister

little sister, just remember
when you move away from home
that when the stars at night don't seem to shine-
i promise that you're not alone.

i've been spared by angels
on many star-less dark blue nights
and in the morning, they cast me gently
back into the dawn day light.

little sister, just remember
when you feel you've lost your way
when is seems as though this windy road
is leading you astray

trust your heart and intuition
they never failed to lead me home-
even when i felt a wanderer
in this strange and foreign world.

bianca merkley

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untitled

devoid of any semblance of human emotion

i am displaced

what i feel is not

what i feel is mercurial

a floret, white blades outstretched

basking in bliss the great illuminated orb provides

i exist solely for you, for the warmth

only you can bestow

administer your being unto me

your softness lulls me to melancholia

i am intoxicated with potential

but disquieted by pleasure

my essence is tectonic.

kristie forzese
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he's my pep pep, i love him

my dad and i were talking about sex the other day

and he reminded me that in order to have my own children

i would need to have sex. what worried me was his tone

it was as if he thought i would never actually have sex and

never give him the grandson that he's always wanted

and then he said, 'im worried you're not going to give me a grandson'

and at that very moment the post man arrived at my home with my mission call

'brother duce, you have been called to serve
in the vancouver, british columbia mission'

and i said out loud 'oh no, that's where my dad lives'
and an hour later i called church headquarters

and rejected my mission call.

now instead of preaching the gospel, i can spend more time trying to give

my father the grandson he deserves

chris duce

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note left on the dresser

you screened my phone call this morning.
i know because i was in the building
across the street from your house
and i saw you leave,
phone in hand.

i guess, then, it was mostly out of anger
that i broke in through your back window after you drove away
because the first thing i did was kick a hole in the wall.

after i was able to calm down and read through your emails,
i stole eighty dollars and left to go buy things
to reimburse myself for all those dinners i paid for,
but then at the store i saw this poetry collection
i had been meaning to tell you about
and picked it up for you.

i hope can you accept this book
as my apology for the hole.
maybe we can get together over lunch sometime
and talk about a few of the poems?
my favorite is the one about the old man
and his twin brother.
let me know what you think.

also, if you're going to be around saturday afternoon
i could come over and fix the wall.
you could even take the chance to repaint the room.
i'd love to help you.
you mentioned you'd been thinking of trying a spring yellow?

austinrory hackett

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really heavy metal

the question:

if you were starting a heavy metal band and you wanted it to be the heaviest heavy metal band of all time, what would you name it?

the answers (honorable mentions):

emphyzema
bench press
butch slabchest
bezerker and the master blasters
carbomb
zombie derelict
kitty sacrifice
kitty surprise

and the number one heaviest heavy metal band name of all time submitted by rory emerson bruggeman:

pentaglam

austinrory hackett, jonah bergevin, rory bruggeman, emily labonte, niki arrington, liz preston

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