"Sheets of burnt composition paper," "Newsprint fingers," and "Pancake mustache frozen in place"

Sheets of burnt composition paper

                        over the volcano
                        mood change
                        rainbow bald head
                        gutters crowded
                        houses vacant
                        wings clipped
                        air unbreathable
 
cantankerous garbage
                                    into the hollow
                                    halls of political
                                                            nihilism
 
glass shattered like fish scales
            piano remarked on
drifting wayward tips
                                    pen caps exploding into the fan
 
grossly negligent armies
                        swept through the brain/cellophane
            like shallow individualism
            of fashion
 
sound of sight/
                                    positive control breaking down
intangibility left to fill/
                        a hammer left to swing
 
particle board
                                    table
            seeking alternatives to the free market
monstrosity of wealth
 
haphazard turns of phrase
scrawled
                                                disproportionate

 


 

Newsprint fingers

sudden blue flashes soiled insecure rotten deliberations foaming at otherwise mangled flesh brains crumbs reaching missing transparent maladjusted atmospheric judgments freed furious limbs beating windshield clockwise depths open ended circumstance rat race flesh colored outcomes
            into freezers
            birds flush
            boring
                  hammers/nails/insect bites
 
between raindrops an opening occurred mysteries unscathed jumbled like wires reframed telephone poles almost grinning moonlight escapades relentless twitching rivers perilous hunting like loose eyeballs
hanging
 
mountains
    squeezing
breaking tuneless
            along pebble roads
            curving
labyrinths unfolding
                                    cursing
 
graph paper
            the compass          scientific progress
                            horror                    foreheads     organs
entwined in spiderweb
 
                  foot buried beneath
                  cultural debris<in the dungeons of
                                           the university the death of
                                           texts><criticism only reduction=
                                                                      reactionary>
 
teeth chipped
pin pricks
vibrating wrath
red zone towers
seekingcontradictionsinthought

 


 

Pancake mustache frozen in place

asteroids hit beach towels
                                    & umbrellas
circulate at cocktail parties
 
dancing foxtrots under fountains of ice tea
 
(steady)
(as)
(it)
(punishes)
 
insects rats laminated in sinister situations
trances avoidable frenzies frantic stirring impacts
 
constant tongue lashings
smells like
                                    formaldehyde
pounce on frogs
(stone cold)
feet swollen
            the waltz
                        a crater of
                                    disbelief
 
dismembered chorus lines
cruising
                                                            the streets
                                    for milkshakes
 
an eyeball lost
            in a socket
hair on paper
lost
lost
academic misfortune
mud pies of
solid diameter
 
stubborn shoulders posed as statues
            monkey yearns lizard like perspectives
 
 
violent in
their
curving
as abrupt
as dentist’s
chairs
 
faces made up to leak
boiled as a peanut
bent expression adjusted
creeping of stamped hands
 
 
hard surfaces spill
<cracked
                                    finger
                                    nails
                                    bliss
                                    ful
                                    demons
                                    smoking
                                    hash
                                                > barndoor
                                                swing open
                                                until shut
 
=gruesome cavalcade of dimensions
            misapplied
            always
            covered in
            tattered
            fabrics=
 
against leaf
wall                                         over
                        comma
            beside                          circle
underwear                               dis-
            integration

 

 

Joshua Martin

Joshua Martin is a Philadelphia based writer and filmmaker, who currently works in a library. He is member of C22, an experimental writing collective. He is the author most recently of the books [Ruptured] >> Schematic <<  MAZES (Sweat Drenched Press), destructive paradox slips on banana peel (Cajun Mutt Press), and Dance of Resistance Brainwaves (C22 Press). He has had numerous pieces published in various journals including Otoliths, Synapse, Version (9), Don’t Submit!, BlazeVOX, RASPUTIN, Ink Pantry, and experiential-experimental-literature. You can find links to his published work at joshuamartinwriting.blogspot.com. Joshua recommends the Morris Animal Refuge.

 

Edited for Unlikely by Jonathan Penton, Editor-in-Chief
Last revised on Monday, September 20, 2021 - 22:09