Literary E-ZINE

*** poetry / paintings / plays / screenplays / video ***

Anti Det ...................................................................................................................................... Kristin Fialko

Good Morning Inbox ................................................................................................................. Amanda Chartier

Incandescence .......................................................................................................................... Marcie Crofford

Gentleman's Companion............................................................................................................ Ivan Jenson

Rhythms of Flux ........................................................................................................................ Matt Harris

I Wish it Were a Miscarriage ..................................................................................................... kj Hays

Night on Sandy Lane ................................................................................................................ Christopher Woods

My Reality .................................................................................................................................. Siluano Williams

-_- .............................................................................................................................................. Amanda Chartier

The Ingredients of Coffee ......................................................................................................... Yanagisawa Chikara

Limited Overhead ...................................................................................................................... Rich Ryfe

Glow Bus .................................................................................................................................. Christopher Woods

Pretty Ugly Girl .......................................................................................................................... Josh Tremino

that's another why ..................................................................................................................... David E. Howerton

Landing Preparations ................................................................................................................ Kevin Holmes

Respiration ................................................................................................................................ Yanagisawa Chikara

Fall's Wind ................................................................................................................................ Andrew Scott Rotondi

God, Gabriel & Pete .................................................................................................................. Chris Paterson

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poetry plays scripts paintings poetry plays scripts paintings poetry plays scripts paintings 

painting

 poetry

She lay there taken

Face down

Hair billowy black across the bed

Candles breathe the darkness

All things prior forgotten

Body suspended

Chilled by passion

Ignite the dream

 poetry

 poetry

The sinusoidal curves of life

bestrides trials and tribulations

from cradle to grave

whipsawing and fish tailing

ascending atop white cap crests

and descending subsurface troughs

encapsulating cyclical moments

within the memory banks

reflecting tangential co-signers

until that arbitrary age of eighteen

or twenty-one years

when the onus of responsibility

mandates that each potential adult

adapt to the paradigm of reason

disengage from the pranks of youth

sprung from the day of birth

summarily enjoyed when precocious

felled whence autumnal dusk arrived

concluded during winter of discontent.

 poetry

I can see the head…please cover it. Doctor there is nothing more you can do…the paddles shorted out. It is going to be a corpse. What will her name be? Did she ever say Mom? Did she ever say Dad? Would you like to hold it one last time? You're going to be a mourner. I am a mourner! Keep breathing it is almost over now; do you want something for the pain? We thought you were going to feint your way out of life. Well now you are ours! The lab coats tell all…we will wheel you out. Be sure to drool and wave to the cameras. One more experiment, they will be so proud. The ornament is from 2113…baby's last Christmas. Can we start our own photo album without her? I guess…we can…please don't weep again we're running out of towels. Did you throw Styx for the grey ashen eyed dogs that run through the grass that never bends? Was it fun? Did mom dream of remembering to take the film out of the camera before she took the pictures? Then I guess we'll have them developed to look at in a past hour won't we? You're such a good dear baby. Dearly beloved we are scattered from here today because really what does a quorum matter at a funeral? Only Mom was there when it all started and if these creatures are lucky…Dad too. Put the flowers back in their holes and cover them with mud, get a refund from the florist no one lived here today. Sing all the chants and hymns you want, but sing them backwards standing on your head…lead the child to inexistence. Its cursing ceremony won't be held in the spring. The baby shower dried up, unwrap the gifts for yourselves while you still can feel your hands. Reach for my fingers; you can sleepwalk with me in a reality of mirrors that turn a bright blue forever when you look into them. You never started. You never ended…your face fell out of my hands. Let the dirt take to the breeze…so much soot is gone… I can see the skeleton….I can see the head.

 art

wAsTed ThOUghTS AT a CRiPPLed DistaNCE

THAT WHispErs IN dEAth's Ears

hAS no ResPEct oF prINCIPLES,

cAUse JUsTICe is *DEAF*IN oNE eYE

sUBliME rYHmES wIth GraCE is ErasED by TRaGEdy,

thE plIGHt thAT scARS

ANd ScrATCHed The bLACK fACE of  2 SWOLLEn LUngs oF  rEALiTY

isNT that DA rEASon, THERE ARE 4 SEAsoNS of MOthER naTURE's moodswings?

cANcER at Her EXpenSE eXCuTe's a VerBAl AbuSE froM  my own CHildHOOD

that often rEflects A cAViTy In (HoPe'S) bAby TooTh,

was actually  THe NooSE THat once HuNG her neck

iS thE mEmoRy ThaT cAUSes FrICtIOn Of BLoTTed PeNS on BlanK cHecKS

i PAinT paSSioN wiTH BLoOD vEins INjECted WiTH StaLe PerFeCTioN

im often DiSsEcTed bY *haTE* ,that failure sometimes make sense

i get STUCK in the  devil's intersection

 inJECtioN's OF A mILd diSeaSE,

has caused PaTIENCe'S it's bad BreatH

picture fRamES oF bLIsTer'S fRom FaiLED aTTempts CauSE'S me TO fREEze

OR rEact TO a SurrOunding I FaLL vIcTim TO My IMAGInaTioN

dA cONscIous IS da dEVIL's *MOnOplY,

a GamE OF TuRnS

PLaGuED

By DeciSioNS tHAT iVe BeEn dISgUsTed By THe DIARrHea  -SoRRoW-

hAS lEFT bEhINd,

FOsTer Kids oF cRiPPLed HomES Are bRokEN symbols

 IM cONstANLY in A cRoWD of Myth'S 

 i am rEFuGE Of a stagnant mind that IS  more worSE tHAN fAKe TeARS

ThaT ^SNeeZES^ out a frown

 I no LOngER wANt tO kNow HoW i EXiST,

more LikEly To ForM a FISt, Than IdEAS,

cAuSE by NAtuRE my flesh is  woUNDEd

 living in a stale soul,

that sUrViViNG iS wHat i once knew

cOnStaNT fLow IS mY oNly PrOgReSS, I sEEm to QuEsTion THe PuRpoSE.

I wAS boRn TO at lEAST dOuBt da InViSibLe EnEmIeS tHat GrEeTS mE wHEN

(TrOUble) WeARs MY sOuL So ErOTiCLy Like *TrOJAN cONdOMS*

iF i Had DA cHANcE tO cOMbINE MY (LIfe) To POeTRy aND tEll it LIKe

it SHoULD be SaID......

tHERE wOuld BE NO HEll!!!

 filmmaking

CAST:
Jeanet - an attractive woman, 30s.  Smartly dressed.
Phillip - mid-forties

Exterior, nicely landscaped contemporary home.  There is a BeMax Real Estate sign beside the front door.  Two people approach.  Jeanet, very stylish.  Phillip in casual clothes.

Jeanet: The last one sold down the street for double what the fellow paid three years ago.

Phillip: It’s a boom market.

Jeanet: No better investment in the world than real estate.  We have two offers on this one but we keep showing until one or the other closes.

Phillip: What’s the square footage?

Jeanet: Thirty six hundred square feet.  Everything new.  Highest quality.  No expense spared.  Two car garage to the left.  Screened porch off the kitchen on the right.  Exterior is cedar shingle, granite facing, poured concrete foundation with rebar reinforcement.  Builder guarantees the structure in winds up to one hundred eighty miles per hour.

Phillip: You get that kind of weather out here?

Jeanet: Rarely.  But when the big one does blow you want to be in a home that won’t fall apart right? (she opens the front door) Ever since Katrina people think a whole lot more about severe storm resistance and “force mejuer” hazards…

Phillip: Force??

Jeanet: Notice the marble with varied inlay here in the vestibule.  It’s Italian veneer of the very highest quality made right here in Duane county.

Phillip: How can it be Italian if…

Jeanet: (they enter) Of course by using the local building materials the home maintains a much “greener” profile.  The oak flooring is urethane coated veneer with a poly-ollyethylene foundation making it virtually scratch, burn and pet resistant.   So you won’t have to flip out when the dog pees or the little ones play with matches… Hah, just kidding!

Phillip: Are you saying that the floors are mostly…plastic?

Jeanet: Composites actually.  Much more durable than plastics.  Composites are changing the world we live in.  The new Virgin Galactic space ship is one hundred percent composites and this home is following that high tech lead.

Phillip: I kind of like natural materials myself…

Jeanet: I am glad you said that because this home was built with nothing but natural habitat in mind.  The first thing you’ll notice is the absolutely stunning use of natural light…

Phillip: (staring up)  There’s… There’s no… Roof. 

Jeanet: Right.  Simply brilliant isn’t it?  The architect, Benjamin Little Thote has taken an admittedly radical but ever-so-environmental approach to the design.

Phillip: (dumbfounded) How do you sell a home with no roof?

Jeanet: You see part of the green revolution is to adapt to a new way of living.  Most people these days are becoming aware of our need to cut down on conspicuous consumption,  energy use, high fat diets, sedentary lifestyles.  So, BeMax Realty has been trying hard to focus on new home stylings that match the  lifestyles of our most conscientious clients.

Phillip: You trying to tell me you think someone’s gonna buy a house with no roof on it?

Jeanet: Mr. Kramer, you’d be astonished at how many people come in here and tell me they absolutely love it.

Phillip: How do you love a house with no roof?

Jeanet:  It’s all a part of a new way of living Mr. Kramer.

Phillip: What the hell do you do when it rains??

Jeanet: (pops open a large umbrella) Each Benjamin Little Thote home is sold with a full compliment of heavy duty, fully watertight GoreTex umbellas made right here in…

Phillip: Duane County.  Look, I’ve seen enough.  I am not interested in any house that doesn’t have a… a roof on it.  It’s just not what I am looking for…

Jeanet: Mr. Kramer I want you to think of this like an obstacle in your path to a new way of living.  With a little forethought, ingenuity, and a newfound dedication to an open life,  you’ll be surprised at how happy you can be in a home like this.

(A loud clap of THUNDER and rains pours down - Phillip looks up plaintively)

Jeanet: (covering Phillip with umbrella) How about I make us some coffee and we look at the master bedroom?

CUE MUSIC: First bar Bacharach’s “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” 

She wears the requisite tank top with little straps

            Pointing to her breasts

Required eye shadow

            Makes her look bruised

Standard blond

            With the burnt roots

Her friends are four and five inches taller

With toned legs that make guys think of swimming in their tans

            She’s boney; they think she needs a sandwich

            Xylophone ribs: she’s heard the clichés

Her friends have names like Mertiza, Lana, Eris, and Madison

            She’s Amanda

Harsh sounds. Last decade’s chic.

They have boyfriends with big arms, dark shades

            And pec clinging t-shirts

            Muscles outlined in fabric

They bring their girlfriends roses

Shiny stones on chains for their necks, wrists and ankles

And chocolate

And smiles

And everything else she’s supposed to want

Amanda’s boyfriend says, “I haven’t loved you

            For two weeks” before he bites her

            lip and wanders

 
Plunder stored against
winter nights.
Making sure
there's plenty of coffee
ad bacon.
Little rile more
than running low
on cold days
months yet to go.

belly open
tongue dripping
inhibitions lined up like dominoes, like airplane hangers
that is how I find you
and you knew me when I was coated in mouse traps
now you know my entrance by its windy absence
a door left swinging like an empty swing set
like we were five again on different playgrounds, not playing with each other
because I didn't know you when you were five
but back then I knew what an empty swing set sounded like
it is the rattling hiss of you lining up the thin metallic hanger
playing homicide dominoes
with tongue dripping
and belly open

with landing preparations

God, Gabriel & Pete

An excerpt

Screenplay by Chris Paterson

FADE IN:

EXT. CAFE RAYS -- DAY

The door to the cafe opens with the CAMERA following a customer inside as he sits down at the lunch counter.  MATT and SAM, both in their mid thirties and attractive, are standing at the pickup window.  Matt is facing the window waiting for an order. Sam is facing the room with his arms folded and a scowl on his face.  MARGE, the cook, is a large woman in her fifties. She is busy putting orders together.

MATT

Hey Marge, can I get that soup today?

MARGE

(gruff)

Hang on! I've only got two hands! 

SAM

(quietly)

He looks like a thumb wearing a hat.

Sam is glaring at a regular customer he doesn't like. The customer is a stout man wearing a fedora.

MATT

He's running me ragged.  Every time he comes in he has a problem...  Last week he said the gravy smelled like something that runs through the streets of Calcutta.

SAM

(whispering)

Hand me the stuff.

Sam is pointing to a coffee can at the opposite end of the pickup window, within reach of Matt.

MATT

No!  Ray told us not to do that anymore.

Matt scans the room looking for Ray.

SAM

Give it to me!

MATT

No!

Matt takes a small, clear bottle out of the can.  RAY, a balding man in his fifties, and the owner of the cafe, walks up as Matt hands it to Sam.  Sam squirts some in the soup.

RAY

I told you both not to do that anymore!

Ray scans the room.

RAY

Who gets it?

MATT

Table two…

RAY

Calcutta man!  I don't like Calcutta man.

Ray has a dirty look on his face.  Ray grabs the bottle from Sam, squirts more in the soup.

MARGE

You guys are gonna get caught one of these days.

SAM

Remember when he said your gravy smelled like raw sewage?

Ray holds the bottle up in front of Marge.

MARGE

Give me that! He's gonna experience raw sewage in about twenty minutes.

Marge grabs the bottle from Ray, squirts more in the soup.  Matt takes the soup and walks away.

CUT TO:

INT. CAFE RAYS -- CONTINUOUS

Matt is putting the soup on the table.

MATT

(phony smile)

Enjoy…

Matt walks back to the counter.

CUT TO:

INT. CAFE RAYS -- CONTINUOUS

GABRIEL, best friend of Matt and Sam is in his mid thirties. He has dark hair and blue eyes.  He is attractive in an offbeat way.  He walks into the cafe and plops down at the counter.  Matt and Sam glance at each other then look at Gabriel, surprised.

MATT

What's with you?

SAM

Yeah, what's with you?

GABRIEL

Nothing... I'm just a little tired.

MATT

Why aren't you at work?

GABRIEL

(sheepish)

I have to tell you something…

SAM

(over dramatic)

Oh my God! What happened? Are you okay?

Matt shoots Sam a dismissive look.

SAM

(discreet)

Did you get laid?

GABRIEL

I quit my job today.

Sam puts his hand up to his mouth and gasps.  Matt rolls his eyes.

MATT

Why? What happened?

GABRIEL

Nothing happened, I just can't go anymore. I don't have any passion for it... No passion for anything. 

SAM

People who work for the city aren't supposed to have passion. They aren't even required to have a personality. Just good benefits... This isn't like you, you're supposed to be the responsible one.

MATT

He's right, for once. This isn't like you... What's really going on?

GABRIEL

I don't know, I woke up this morning and I knew I couldn't go back...  It's not like I had a plan.

SAM

So what are you gonna do now?

Gabriel shrugs.

MARGE

Sam, your order's up!

Sam walks away.

MATT

Gabe, I know you haven't been happy for a while, but quitting your job?  Don't get me wrong, I'm behind you one hundred percent. I just don't think this is the answer.

GABRIEL

(looks outside)

I can't keep doing this Matty. It isn't just the job... It's everything.  

Sam is in the background.  He drops off the order, goes to the table next to it, picking up a coin off the table of the annoying customer.  He walks to the gumball machine, puts the money in, shakes the machine and comes back to the lunch counter.  He stands next to Matt and starts stocking straws, napkins etc. 

SAM

The thumb gave you a tip. I spent it at the gum ball machine.

Sam opens his mouth wide showing Matt the gum.

SAM

So Gabe, you can pick up some shifts here... Imagine, all this can be yours, if you just believe.

Sam's hand flows back and forth.

GABRIEL

That's okay I'll take my chances.  Things happen for a reason... Anyway, I have some money put away. You guys don't have to worry about my share of the rent.

MATT

We're not worried.  Besides, if worse comes to worse, we'll just sell Sam.  That ought to buy us a few weeks.

Sam blows a bubble close to Matt's face. He quickly looks toward the entrance with a sour look on his face.

SAM

Well, well, well. Look what the hideously deformed cat dragged in.

Matt, Sam, and Gabriel have a less than enthusiastic look on their faces.  Sam is smacking his gum, staring at Gen. GEN, a male in his early thirties with blonde hair and a thin build, walks up and plops down next to Gabriel. 

GEN

That's a nice look for you. It really brings out your eyes, you big cow.

Gen is wearing a bright red stocking cap that is sort of pointed on top, a bright red shirt and a green scarf around his neck.

SAM

Thanks, you giant lawn gnome.

Matt rolls his eyes.  Gabriel looks away.

GEN

What's with the three of you?  You look like it's a Saturday night and you've lost your favorite diaphragm. What gives?

SAM

Gabriel quit his job today.

MATT

Sam!

Sam jumps.

GEN

Good for you!  Work is way overrated.  I'm working my fingers to the bone, and for what? To save every cent I can, move to some over crowded retirement village in Florida where all the men shoot wafers, and I sit around, stuck to my vinyl lawn chair wearing sensible shoes and a giant floral caftan? No thanks!  Besides, you know what that humidity does to your hair?  Wreaks havoc!

Gen puts his hands up in front of him, gesturing a protest. 

SAM

First of all, you can't save one cent. Second, I don't think there's a retirement village that takes caftan wearing lawn gnomes. And last, but not least, you work part time at a dry cleaner. How hard can that be?

Gen shoots Sam a dirty look.

GEN

It's ­lots of pressure!  It's a miracle I'm not in some twelve- step program.

Matt and Sam give Gen a dismissive look.

MATT

You work part time you freak!

Gen shrugs his shoulders.

GEN

Yeah, but Mr. Wang is very strict about the process.

SAM

Please! You work four hours a day.  And half of that is spent here.  Besides, dry cleaning is a big lie.

GEN

I don't know what you're talking about…

SAM

It's a ruse. A scam. A conspiracy.  You just shoot a little steam on the clothes, wrap it in plastic, and ­put it on that endless spinning rack!  It's an easy buck.

GEN

(whispering loudly)

Shut up!  If that got out...

Gen looks around the room.

MATT

Can we focus on the real issue? 

Matt points at Gabriel.

GEN

The issue? I thought I was the issue. My future is bleak, my hair has split ends, and I'm close to eating in this dive. Those are issues!

SAM

Shut your yap, gnome!

GABRIEL

It's no big deal. I'm fine.

Gabriel looks out the window again.

GABRIEL

I just feel a little lost right now.

Gabriel turns back to Matt and Sam.

GABRIEL

I guess it could be worse. I could be him.

Gabriel points to Gen. He gets up, walks away.

GEN

Hey Gabe!

Gen is spinning around on the stool.

GEN

I can ask Mr. Wang to give you a job. It's not rocket science, and it doesn't pay that much but you can get a fabulous wardrobe out of the deal.

Gabriel ignores Gen and keeps walking.

GEN

Okay, we'll work out the details later.

Gen stops spinning, looks and Matt and Sam.

GEN

What?

MATT

What do you mean, what?  You're an idiot.

SAM

He doesn't want a job at a dry cleaner.

GEN

(irritated)

Then what does he want?

MATT

I don't know…

SAM

Maybe he's just lonely or depressed.

MATT

No, this is different, I can tell. He has that "far away" look in his eyes.

GEN

What the hell does that mean?  The "far away" look. Is that some sort of feng shui zen thing?

Gen is making quotation marks with his fingers.

MATT

Sometimes Gabe feels like he should be somewhere else, doing something else.  He's just not sure what that somewhere and something else is.  It's hard to explain.

GEN

Maybe he's living in some parallel universe.  You know, where he's living the life of one person, and they're living his. Of course I don't know who's parallel life would be more pathetic.

Matt and Sam give him a dirty look.

GEN

It could happen. You two don't know everything!

SAM

I know you're a nut case.

GEN

My nut case is none of your concern.

SAM

What can we do to help? 

MATT

Nothing. He's had the feeling most of his life. It passes. He'll find his way eventually.

GEN

I know. I'll throw a party!  That'll cheer up our little Gabby... Walter's out of town this weekend, he said I could use his place.

SAM

So who's this Walter?

GEN

Just a guy…

MATT

We know that.  We mean, what's his story?

SAM

Yeah, does this one have to be carbon dated?

GEN

Funny!  He's under sixty if that's what you mean. He's nice.  He brings his suits in and I give him a discount. What's wrong with that?

MATT

Exactly how many people are you discounting?

GEN

A few. I give where I can.

SAM

You're one giant coupon, aren't you?

GEN

I would love to stay and continue this witty banter with you two skanks, but I have to get back to work before the Wanger notices I'm gone.

Gen gets up, walks away.

GEN

You two are giving me a ride home, right?

MATT

Don't we always give you a ride home?

GEN

I'll set something up for Saturday night…

SAM

Hey, miss global warming, you keep that pace up at the cleaners and ­old Walter's gonna need to be steamed and wrapped in plastic.

Gen stops, turns around.

GEN

Yesterday my psychic told me I would run into a couple of bitches today. I thought it was the two dogs I saw on my way to work this morning... I guess I was wrong.

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