Destruction

drunk sparrows fall like flaming
meteors causing holes in
streets pedestrians scatter while
nightingales go into
hiding finding crepuscular caves in
virgin jungles to wait for
the new beginning they desire the
new phoenixes to
be emerge out of nuclear mushrooms and the
sparrows keep on
falling down drunk and burning burning and drunk
the cats have no idea how to react to the
sudden barbeque gift and the cities are
emptied buildings torn
down for material the nightingales sing their
mellow melodies in their caves to help
the bears fall asleep again and some rocks fall whenever another
sparrow lands on the distant streets of faraway cities.

Currently residing in Greece, George Gad Economou has a Master’s degree in Philosophy of Science. Has published a novella, Letters to S. (Storylandia), a poetry collection, Bourbon Bottles and Broken Beds (Adelaide Books), and his drunken words have appeared in various places, such as Spillwords Press, Ariel Chart, Fixator Press, Outcast Press, Piker’s Press, The Edge of Humanity Magazine, The Rye Whiskey Review, and Modern Drunkard Magazine.

canvas asteroids

In the prosaic sense that things
just work, find the ordinal of a
number using some black magic
& lots of glitter. Once that is done,
use screws of varying sizes to add
the back to the seat of the trephin-
ation machine. Putting a hole in
the head might seem quite easy
& straightforward when coded
from scratch, but getting the colors
right is a complex task. The moon
might arrive upside down before
the job is finished & draw the light
away. Sometimes it is the vibrations
from a herd of wombats digging
holes that causes the drill to slip.

Mark Young’s most recent book is the downloadable pdf, XXXX CENTONES, available from
sandy press — https://www.sandy-press.com/.

FAITH AND GUTS

It takes faith to not rely upon faith.
It takes guts to not actively be in love.
It takes fortitude to forgo passion for concealment,
Trade exhilaration for contentment.
Don’t let the world fool you –
There is more potential downside to jumping from an airplane
Than upside
Unless the plane is going down, too.
It takes character to dismiss charm and to keep beauty at a distance.
It takes strength to embrace loneliness
And a strong heart to turn sadness into expression.
It takes a defective sanity to hold onto hunger,
To delight in the potential of conflict
While avoiding conflict if you can,
Letting it come to you if it must.
It takes wisdom to capitulate and rebel in equal measure.
It takes guts to quietly love everyone –
Enormous guts and hidden audacity.
It takes a miracle to love oneself truly.
It takes a certain kind of faith in the natural world
To not blow on the dice before you throw them.
Faith and guts.

John Tustin’s poetry has appeared in many disparate literary journals since 2009. fritzware.com/johntustinpoetry contains links to his published poetry online.