celestial bodies high up above
are partially hidden in this
light-polluted city where
we hear screams from
four-story buildings &
smell pulsing humanity,
seeping thru the walls
of our studio apartments –
Continue readingSuffocation (a poem)
humanity
The Stain on our Souls (flash fiction)
The old man speaks of phantoms. He lay on his death-bed, and his face is ashen and sickly.
“Our home,” he says, “it’s haunted. Haunted by my sins. Haunted by my father’s sins, and his father’s sins.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
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These Damn Angels (a poem)
what’s all this talk of
angels hunched over
in storm-clouds with
their harps, waiting for me
to make a mistake so
they can swoop down
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Regenerate (a 6-word story)
Mammals (a poem)
we’re nothing but mammals
we walk, not crawl
through orange leaves
common in the fall
i’ve been in this house so long
i forget what it’s like out there –
hustle & bustle
breaking our backs
for snacks
& other goodies –
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Book Review: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
I’m always reading heavy and serious books like Kafka, the classics, or dystopian science fiction. So I decided recently to read something a little more light-hearted for a change of pace.
The book I picked up was from Rachel’s shelf – The Golem and the Jinni, a 2013 debut novel from Helene Wecker. The novel still has some serious themes, but it wasn’t the type of angsty existentialism I usually dig into.
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Melting Glacier/Ego (a poem)
I got an ego the size of a glacier
but I hope it’s meltin’
like them ones in the Artic
I used to say I was sick
in the head
but that was self-contempt
I’ve since given up –
I’m just like everyone else
a homo sapien not fully evolved
plagued by panic, all that crap –
snap, crackle, pop! I’m locked
in the house, quiet as a mouse
thinking of myself too much
what about thinking of others?
oh brother, here I go again
beating myself up
give it up!
(Photo by Elisa Clairet on Unsplash)
Note: This poem was inspired by a prompt on dVerse to do a “self-portrait.” The title of the post was, “Come and take a selfie!” Here’s a link to the dVerse post where the prompt is!
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Warlike (a poem)
Look at our history, we’re a warlike species
we wish to beat + battle
but can we foster peace?
Piece by piece, we lunge toward an unknown future,
fighting animal instincts –
military tanks rumble toward me,
I step barefoot, bloody over broken glass
armed with a lotus flower
to combat their firepower.
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Soldiering On (a poem)
We can soldier through these dark hours if we hold on to faith + meaning –
the government tweeted antisemitism last night, the paranoia set in
we covered the webcam, spoke in whispers
debated if it was intentional
I thought of Viktor Frankl + man’s search for meaning –
humans can exact great suffering on each other,
but they can never take our souls.
(Photo by Diego PH on Unsplash)
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For the Homeless & Damnificados (a poem)
We are damnifacados: homeless, junkies,
people deem us less than human.
When you pass us on a hectic street, we’re resting with
backs to the wall asking for mercy, spare change –
you look away from our weathered faces,
we feel disgrace, in our soiled clothes, our tired eyes.
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