selected literature with illustrations

Ataraxia

Vol. 11 • July/201 5

selected literature with illustrations

a culmination ofbattles decided by superior

numbers

by Mark Young

The River Thames allows

one to retain a favorite

flavor of instant noodle

but insists on sticking

solar panels to its bridges

to take advantage of

any anthemic song

that might happen by.

Good clinical dentistry

is no longer enough—

too many cranberries!

untitled

by Fahad Baseer

Occasionally

A boombox hangs from the ceil ing

of a tunnel. Behind Rob’s house

I walked through it once on a run

I don’t remember his cat’s name

It was one of many found dead

We all knew, but kept our mouths

shut. Didn’t talk about cat related

nouns. Boombox. Painted using

stolen paint marker. I t was gold

or si lver. Through the static shined

emerged. Arrived Rob. Sti l l .

Sti l ler than voices with bodies

could ever aim to achieve. Sti l l

Sti l l searching for that cat. He

emerged. Arrived with al l knowledge

of what went on in his house without

him. The house in which someone

carved on the plaster. where 666

used to be. The rants are now

broken pieces of a house. Some

framed. Some kept and forgotten.

There were also drawings there.

The plaster could cover up the punch

but not the idea behind it

so I carved. Eat this house.

Not while I was there

and sometime before the emergence

The house ate itself

The golf course dried up

Hanging from the ceil ing

painted haphazardly.

before ranting/scratching/drawing on the wall

before having no self left to paint

you painted yourself on Casio Canvas

Hanging from the only thing left

from the youth of many

emitting sl ices of the idea of

a dead friend. There are perhaps

Bird feeders for even the most complicated

occasions

Memorial Day

by Jul ie Davis

the other night

when the shadow of the guitar

smeared on that fake pup’s face

made the real pup jealous

and anxious

grass stains on my lips

l ittle cuts

whistl in up and down

tan, pink, purple, red, black

white and blue

mega color bubbles and

old biscuits and ½ beers

on our tongues

on the floor

on you

slick, sl ip down the hil l

step over chess and strangers

lunge forward

go, don’t stop

maybe turn around

just once

we’l l al l end up at home in the end

( 3 ) EATING

by Zachary Scott Hamilton

Face the symmetrical furniture, the chandeliers, the jacket, the

green, neon clock. The angel Auriel makes sure of the favorite

pair of color swatch eyes, the best way to the nose, wakes

eating cakes in an identical Wednesday, dancing on the sl ides

with a hundred years in a letter to the post office, or over a

week, so galactic.

I am curious, humane, sheltered in scarves. I have grown a lot

of wings from maple, and friends in New York. I even found a

place for the past, and I wil l have a healthy fear of you who

jangle your keys next to the passage in twil ight. I join

handmade letters from cardboard, kiss under heavens, float to

shore, as Zachary.

268

by Harrison Parks

she wears black tees emblazoned with slogans--

'l ie down i think i love you, ' and other

call ings for our l ips to tease and play--

coy expressions; one is a challenge to hurry up &

get in her past. bright minds l ike hers inevitably

burn through people to find truth in flame.

gladly, i am kindl ing for her fire's mise en place.

no regrets--save that we don't trick ourselves

as many can to prolong it. though i am no

stranger to cynics, somehow i cannot yet

relegate her and me to that quick inferno;

we burn through a city; through sister cities;

fuck, we consume nations.

al l the tricks one needs to be led to

paradise are in her repertoire. it has been a day

or two and she already is a second sight.

unl ike most, she masters every sense.

we both need little affirmation. obviously,

this time-frame speaks to foolishness but

instinct quickly knows where it ought,

needs to be led. forces of nature fal l into place

without dawdling. the words marked here

i can postpone so she won't know of them

unti l marks of time or bruises she leaves ebb

away fear. we incubate. soon is soon enough.

soon is eternal ly far away; soon is the future

that has become our muse. we are consumed by soon

and burn sacrifices from her admirers; though i am

her chief admirer and i shal l always burn brighter.

someday, men may topple her monuments.

these words remain eternal.

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