GALILEO’S GHOST With Earth at the Center, Ptolemy ruled. Mathematically sound, for centuries fooled Who then passed as scientists to proclaim, “We know all the Universe; don’t defame!” When Copernicus proved the Sun’s the Hub, Those of Catholic persuasion wouldn’t budge. “Since the Bible’s declared, ’The Earth is It,’ Therefore anything new must therein fit.” When […]
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MORNING RUN by Norbert Kovacs (Originally published in FIVE:2:ONE’s #thesideshow, May 12, 2018. The author has revised the text.) For three weeks, Phil’s veins ran with anticipation. He woke with a tingling in his arms and a warmth suffusing his head that he could not explain. He imagined he had keyed into a sense that something good was about to […]
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HOW I KEEP FIT – By John Grey The sidewalks in the city are like exercise equipment. There’s a mix of long strides on the cement treadmill and the shorter, quicker gait of the elliptical workout. A few stand at the street corner, stationary pedaling while waiting for the lights to change. Some hoist brown briefcase dumbbells. Others try the […]
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Embedded and this statue still tightening its grip tries to revive the horse expects its crumbling reins to smell from leather and crowding –you squint the way the general looks for a small thing encased in a season exactly where he left it waits in the rain for your black umbrella to open make room for you […]
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Adultery I’d bang them out, wine-drunk and excited, and send them off to magazines. I had two lists; ones which liked me and ones I liked, and I’d fire them unedited like a shotgun scaring birds. each one 5 times to 5 different places. then I’d wait for any to come back. in general it started with rejections; […]
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THE ESTHETICS OF SELF Against the horizon, you must always consider three skies: the one you see, the one you think about, and the one that’s really there. Our illusions falter on an edge we prefer to imagine, a definition beyond sight. But the eye has no horizon, the mind no extension beyond itself. […]
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Hey you Yeah you I heard your conversation You’re leaving us? Yeah, well just know one thing This isn’t such a sweet little town Oh, believe me, it’s not a sweet little town This town has some crazy shit going on Would you believe me if I told you– Wait, you’re not going to believe me Come on, look at […]
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Driving into a storm graying a cloud-mottled sky, mist climbs the building towers, umbrellas shudder below. A broken water line arcs an icy sidewalk, stoplights fail, freezing the intersections. The side street crosswalk cop spins and whistles, pauses cars as he passes the ladies on. Buses bounce a pothole lane, side panels milky with engine-melted ice. Street breezes worry […]
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Those who sent their men to war Still wait, forever wait Their return at full moon. Those whose men returned long ago Still wait, forever wait To be issued their fortune. We hoped amidst the struggle Our blood shall dry not, but sprout Into long-bearing palm trees of joy As we wrestled with nightmares of time We remained awake […]
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DOPPLER DELIGHT – By John Zedolik The Doppler effect drags away the angry horn that melts like unattended ice cream on an August day in an unnoticed street drain and the careless eater’s fingers have found protection in napkins guarding against the sticky-sweet that might cling to exposed skin and require a washing if said consumer even cares, since it […]
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