the tenth word

The theater is a place of queuing dictators, whose claque stands in a broken bamboo balcony, surrounded by barbed wire & the O of a singing mouth. Mimicking some radical equation, a bus leaves the nearby corner carrying a splinter group. Shiva lingering. Bleached membranes, inverted summer machinery. Long supple typewriters run wild under the dome.

eponymous

American Goth hicks

after touring your war museum

The Romans & the Arabs —
oddly & exotically — built
seaside towns filled with
evidence of growing rice
in wet fields. But ever since
gift shops destroyed those
first attempts & allowed the
bubonic plague entry into

Europe, the principle of
asymmetry no longer holds.
Flags may be flown at night
only when fish or ducks or
any other actor in the economy
is suffering from a food allergy.

geographies: Bingi Bingi Point

Just because she's a Duchess
doesn't mean that she can't
also be an active volcano that

appears to rise from the waters
as your one stop Education Shop
selling salt tolerant gluten free

heritage locomotives with lav-
ender infused curio emporiums
dotted in between the carriages.

LutelY

wednesday newstrip

No-Precedent DoNuts T.®ump asks Congress for US$8.6 billion so he can build a wall around the Wheat House to keep out two Islamic State brides who have had their British citizenships revoked · UK Prim Minister Tears MayNot asks Parliament for US$8.6 billion so she can build a firewall around 10 DoNuts Street after Google reported a zero-day exploit in Windows 7 · astronauts on the space station liked SpaceX's 'Earthy' toy so much that they kidnapped it & are asking Elongated Muskrat for US$8.6 billion before they give it back · DoNuts T.®ump gives J.Lo an asteroid-sized rock to put on her finger, invites her to move into the Wheat House whenever Megalomania's away, & offers her US$8.6 billion for each act of congress.

A line from Mark Young

Many critics of high-stakes
testing still expect a mini-
ature epiphany every time the
elevator doors open. I am read-

ing Thoreau. Does a single man
in his 20's need health insurance?
A door opens when it shouldn't
& someone steps into the void.

R. N.

wednesday newstrip

DoNuts T.®ump returns from Little Rocket Man concert in Hanoi emptyhanded, with neither the recipe for kimchi nor Elton John's autograph · new studies support existence of massive 9th planet, possibly five times the size of the Earth & closer than we thought · DoNuts T.®ump returns emptyhanded from Major Tom concert at the Kennedy Space Center, with neither the recipe for specially processed yuxiang pork nor David Bowie's autograph · video emerges of gigantic tarantula dragging a baby opossum away to devour it later. Khloé Kardashian unleashes: 'That's the reason my family broke up!' · The Vivo iQOO flagship smartphone is released with sd855, 12gb ram & 44w fast charge. DoNuts T.®ump returns home emptyheaded as well as emptyhanded.

geographies: Proserpine

geographies: Sarina

wednesday newstrip

NASA's Earth Science Division has put together a new photo essay that shows our planet in a collection of stunning images, taken from satellites peering down on us from Earth's atmosphere · world's largest bee found in Indonesian rainforest in 'holy grail' discovery · Facebook attacked over app that reveals period dates of its users · Catholic nun scolds bishops on abuse: "This storm will not pass" · a 16-year-old boy has been charged with strangling his wealthy property developer father to death with a dog leash · SheaMoisture pampers guests at its #SheaOnTheBeach Ultimate Beach Day Party · Israel flying to moon in a craft barely the size of a washing machine & called Bearshit · the world just got closer to a controversial mosquito 'wipe out' experiment · Biz groups warn longer maternity leave might push employers to prefer men.

light breaks

Now out from Moria Books

The latest collection of my Magritte poems.

Available as a free downloadable pdf here.

Available for purchase as a print book here.

still
moving

wednesday newstrip

The state department says DoNuts T.®ump's nominee for US ambassador to the United Nations, Heather Nauert, a former Fucked News anchor, has withdrawn, giving as her excuse her fear that a colossal asteroid hurtling through space at nearly 20,000mph might interesect with the Earth & expose as ridiculous her earlier comment that "the D-day landings are evidence of the longstanding relationship between Washington & Berlin" · former US cardinal defrocked for sex crimes against minors & adults, in many of which he defrocked his victims · “I didn’t need to do this, but I’d rather do it much faster” said DoNuts T.®ump, declaring a national emergency because Tristan Thompson has been caught cheating on Khloe Kardashian again & Demi Lovato is back in Rehab · spare-courier to the Precedent, Perk Mince, told the annual Munich Security Conference in Germany that he brings "greetings from POTUS Mark XLV.” At this, there was a complete silence from the crowd. I. Yankher Rump, who was in the audience, was not amused.

defensive wounds

distant lens

geographies: Hughenden

wednesday newstrip

DoNuts T.®ump undergoes anal health check. His Chief physician said "his shit's as strong as ever" in a memorandum released by the Wheat House · London Zoo say female tiger was mauled to death by the male on their first encounter · crocodile emerges from floodwaters to terrify mum & kids in Queensland backyard · Thai king condemns elder sisters's tilt at prime minister as unconstitutional · United States in direct contact with Venezuelan military, urging defections from Nicolas Maduro · Vice director laughed when told of I. Yankher Rump's abrupt exit during film screening.

repercussions

bespoke

wednesday newstrip

DoNuts T.®ump has been seen arriving at Grand Central under the impression that that is the venue for his Night of The Station address.

recycling

Today the
postman brought
me a conundrum.
I don't know
what to
make of it.

a shore, a drift

Otoliths issue fifty-two is now live

It's actually been out for a couple of days because of a conflict between the weather & technology, but let's make it official.

Issue fifty-two of Otoliths, the southern summer 2019 issue, is now live.

As always, there's lots of outstanding work, in a variety of genres, from Anne Gorrick, Doren Robbins, Bob Marcacci, Mary Kasimor, Demosthenes Agrafiotis, M. J. Iuppa, Jim Meirose, Vasiliki Katsarou, Jim Leftwich, Steve Dalachinsky, Lynn Strongin, Sanjeev Sethi, Mark Cunningham, Piet Nieuwland, Seth Howard, Crank Sturgeon, Pete Spence, Kristian Radford, Andrew Rihn, Elaine Woo, Michael Gottlieb, Sheila E. Murphy, Richard J. Fleming, Jeremy Freedman, John McCluskey, a.j. carruthers, John Martone, Lakey Comess, Olivier Schopfer, Joseph Buehler, Amelia Dale, Heath Brougher, John Crouse, Lindsey Anderson, J. Crouse, Robyn Art, Monica Carroll, Tom Montag, Scott MacLeod, john sweet, David Lohrey, Adam Levon Brown, Jack Galmitz, Texas Fontanella, John M. Bennett, Reuben Woolley, hiromi suzuki, Márton Koppány, Diane Keys, Marilyn R. Rosenberg, Daniel de Culla, iDrew, Tom Beckett, Clara B. Jones, Nick Nelson, John Levy, Bob Heman, Renata Solimini, Keith Higginbotham, Kon Markοgiannis, Marcello Diotallevi, Karl Kempton, Kathleen Reichelt & Randee Silv, Drew B. David, Dream Meli, Alec Hershman, Andrew Topel, Craig Cotter, gobscure, Winston Plowes, Emilio Morandi, Tony Beyer, Luc Fierens, Penelope Weiss, Jeff Harrison, Stephen Nelson, Jonel Abellanosa, Carla Bertola, Jac Nelson, Rich Murphy, Alberto Vitacchio, Keith Nunes, Erik Fuhrer, Nicolette Wong & David Heg, Monique Lyle, Kristian Patruno, Michael O'Brien, Marcia Arrieta, Natsuko Hirata, Nicola Griffin, Jessie Janeshek, Trev Eales & Robert Sheppard, Jesse Glass, Larkin Higgins, Richard Kostelanetz, Michael Brandonisio, Shloka Shankar, Tim Wright, Edward Kulemin, Kit Kennedy, Marilyn Stablein, John Pursch, J. D. Nelson, Katrinka Moore, & Jane Joritz-Nakagawa.

Enjoy.