Having tumbled in the thorns & sobered. Having thumbed the sourcebook for how we imagined the conditioned air, its maiden voyage through the high windows. The film of old Victorian homes succumbing along with the screens of the drive-in, all chopped at their feet. Having stood in that debris & called it an interstate. The …
Sit at your biggest monitor. Resist—don’t turn it on. If the computer wakes, unplug it. If you itch, if you’re distracted, if you hold grudges, if your frog won’t jump,scratch, turn off your Wi-Fi and phone, hide your father’s portrait, and jump into the pond.This is the only way to be lost in space. Space …
*The statue of the rooster has a purpose. The flooded subway platform has a purpose. A great force gathers the poppies and assembles them into a carpet draped between the downtown buildings, shimmering like too near stars. A wild hog terrorizes the wealthy. Green fruits go nuts when we’re not around. On my phone I …
This piece by Chen Xianfa is translated from Chinese into English by Martyn Crucefix and Nancy Feng Liang Black tallow leaf. Phoenix-tree leaf. Nim-tree leaf. Yellow sumac leaf.Acacia leaf. Leaf of the beech tree. Fine rain and clumsy clock leaf.Leaf of the grasshopper’s close-to-zero vision.Leaf of paint peeling from a red pillar in an old …
This piece by Chen Xianfa is translated from Chinese into English by Martyn Crucefix and Nancy Feng Liang Since ancient times, every swallow appearsto be the same one. Following lines sketched by themselves, they then disappear in a flash.The drawn lines vanish,yet they are not wholly erased, as all we losepersists somewhere, out of sight, …
This piece by YE Hui is translated from Chinese into English by Dong LI 1 He sits before the window Motionless, leaves falling On his headBehind his back, in the mirror A girl nakedCrouches in a bald kingHer armor scatters on the floor In a squareOf twilightOutside, an acacia tree turns In an instant, into …
This piece by YE Hui is translated from Chinese into English by Dong LI As the stone pillars have sunk to the bottom of the seaThe beams of the grand hall have to grow in the ancient forest Similarly, decorative patterns wind aroundThe twines on the branchesThe remaining steps testify Geometry, compared to their spirit …
I called it being good. I called it being careful. I called it small red squirrel, copper tail in pine trees. Unexpected warm breeze. How I moved through the house always, as if at night, to keeping the sleeping still. I called my shame a secret. I called it fear. I called it I should …
This morning, I fill the sink with cold water and vinegar, swirl flavorless strawberries until my hand grows numb. I am trying now to save things, even pesticide-laden fruit, even us. It is only October and last nightit snowed an ugly snow, thin and resentful. I hated it. It was nothing like that surprise snow …
after Edward Hooper You look anxious on the edgeof that bed, back straight, knuckles curled over the footboardlike you’re ready to standand leave. But you just got here—the bed, still made. After a long car ride, I like to lie down, feel the cool cotton fluff of a pillow against the back of my neck.Why …