Two Poems by Christopher Mulrooney

mall

formerly in the District of Columbia now a makeshift
ersatz thing powered by electrons from the son of a bitch
gird your loins before you enter they pat you down you know
and feel you up put things where you don’t want ‘em etc.
the tour guides all have unfeeling faces meant to look agreeable
and no doubt but that is the face at the other end living



news

it comes on a tickertape you tear off to read an item
x-ray delta reports tom gib rumble oh dark hundred
well got have them eh next daisy mae weds rube
flash charlotte russe had by all shazam what a titbit
framboise cerise writes on the fashion world latest thing bell jar that

Two Poems by Mitchell Krockmalnik Grabois

Grunge

Kindly SHUT UP
about the grunge
under my fingernails
That’s one way I express myself
tell the world who I am

Self-same my grimy teeth
face with no make-up
except for the red lipstick I smear wildly
around my mouth

These are my ways of being me
avenues the psycho-pharmaceuticals cannot travel



Army

booze
drugs
domestic violence
on the Rez

Finally decided I’m no whipping post
no ultimate scapegoat for
European genocide

The only out I could see
was the Army

Then I could be on the violent side
giving not taking
punishing Al Quaida for what they did

What my enemy’s capable of
I know

No Iraqi will ever
come in my barracks in the
middle of the night
and try to rape me and choke me
to death

Three Poems by Mike Meraz

Last night
I talked
Too much
To a girl
In my
Bed

There was a
Point when
I knew
I should just
Shut
Up

And kiss
Her

Which
Led
To
Another
Conversation.

__________________


At least
The
Emptiness
Is not
Filled
With
Something
I do not
Want

Emptiness
Is not
Always
A bad
Thing

It is
Sometimes
Mass
Potential.

___________________


She says
Let me see
If you can
Hold my
Weight

She lays
On top
Of me
Horizontally

She is at
Least
140 lbs

Of
Love.

Three Poems by Scott Thomas Outlar

Sweet Sexy Mythology

It starts
as a little
white spot
on the inside
of the cheek
barely reachable
by the tongue
but enough
to know
something is wrong

It grows
over the months
at a snail’s pace
but with a bulging grace
that spreads the tumor
throughout the flesh
to the gums
and the blood
and the deep parts
of the mind
that worry
over the mass
that is surely
not benign

The cancer erupts
with laughter
saying, “I’ve got you”
but not realizing
it’s a suicide mission
It’s ok
there are virgins waiting in Heaven



Taoist Shit

A ragged cough
begins to sound
the same as an orgasm
after enough cycles
of dualistic life and death
have played out
and all the primal noises
prick the same synapses
in the mind



It’s All So Stupid

Everyone is poisoned
by opinions.
Everyone has beliefs
that are complete
bullshit,
but they’re so implanted and infirmed
in their life patterns
that they can’t even recognize
the habit energies at all.
I’m sure I have my own,
so I’m not
just a fool
casting stones
blindly.
I watch these people
with their stupid opinions
regurgitate, rant and rave
about this or that,
and I guess
in the end
I really am
just one of them
because all I seem to do
is opine
about how filthy
and festering
and fucked up
all these fools are.
I guess my opinion is
that everyone
is a failure,
so I might as well
go for first prize
by running my mouth
more than anyone.