i’m a sucker by Steve Calamars

for a bookworm

with a stupid booty

and thick inarticulate

thighs

that open like

suicide doors and

leave me hanging

on their every word

till my heart

turns cold and

my body

goes limp

brain dead

they run psychological

autopsies to determine

what moves me

only to discover

a sex drive that

has me on a

collision course

with hard hearts

and piercing intellects

from learned women

equipped with sharp minds

and bodies curvy as

chess pieces . . .

CLOSE TO PARADISE by Stephanie Smith

The shit stains in the

toilet look like the

Hawaiian Islands

Cleaning that sucker

later on, you realize

that’s the closest you’ll

probably ever

come to paradise

Doctor, by Andrew J. Stone

I’ve seen things lately, things that shouldn’t be here. I’m not hallucinating, not yet; I’m just

glimpsing creatures from the corner of my eye. In the bath, with freshly brushed teeth, the mirror

reveals a thing scurrying out of the frame. Or in my car as I turn onto Baker Place, a flash of flesh

shoots into view from behind the fire hydrant and disappears beneath the weeds. They follow me

into bed, wait for my slumber. I’m not paranoid, Doctor, nor am I creating these creatures. They

are real. I’m not sure how much longer they’ll just simply follow. Soon, they’ll consume my

disease.