Goddamnit, little bugwhat is it with you?I’m trying to work. I know you were drawnto the light whenI opened the window,but seriously:it is hot in here andto open the window is my right. Landing on my new silk shirt, settlingdown into my hair—there isn’t any placefor you here. Now you’re climbingon the outer wallof my … Continue reading Bug Drawn By Light
Author: johnbrandall
John Randall is a writer living in Missouri. His interests include camping, running, walking, cutting and burning wood, messing around with magnets, foraging, and listening to podcasts, many of them about baseball.
More from the Confusion Series
I. Confection Turning paper in triumphant. Bird droppings on stone bench.Bricken sidewalk undulations. II. The Treetops and The Blue Sky Look at how the treetops rage. Somethingthat I could not contain rips throughthem! I saw blue skies in those treetops,I saw blue sky. III. Bolero Thank you, don’t mind if I do.Gee, it seems like … Continue reading More from the Confusion Series
Twinkle
stars afar appear
unmired modes of light
here they are; now they are
not miles and miles ago
not a year or years away
Stonehenge
On the floor of the market
young children sang,
Which way does the love land?
Which way to the airport?
Which way do we fly?
But the traders despaired,
dropped to their knees, prayed—
O, great Economy in the sky,
what should we do?
The straight-up
markets of the nineties are gone
and we don’t know where
to put our money.
A deep, sober voice spoke
over the din of the market,
Look to the ancients.
Instead of telescopes they
carved mighty stones and
brought Hubble to earth.
Radio despertador
1. Sleeping in the Corner
So what if I sleep
in the corner?
Soo what? Why should
that make you “freak out”?
That’s just the way I sleep.
It’s the way my ancestors
slept. You might’ve known them.
The Indians?
2. Headline
Just gonna lie here, alarm clock,
have a Parliament. Relax,
maybe read the paper?
Hey, look at that,
“Robot Runs Across Water—
Just Like Jesus Did.”
Well, holy shit.
Get the presses ready
for the Third Testament.
They interview the robot,
he is totally full of himself.
One heretical reporter says,
“Right. I guess you’re not
afraid of anything—
swimming, big dicks,
old people?”
3. The DJ
Don’t despair,
alarm clock radio.
I’ll turn you off,
one of these days.
But it is worried, says to me,
“Did you hear that the DJ
was gonna stop at midnight?”
“No way, man,” I said,
“that’s a ripoff!”
But then alarm clock whispers,
“Yeah, but, word is, someone
dropped a sawbuck
on ‘im and he’s gonna
play for another two hours!”
Rock on alarm clock!
4. The BBC
Truth is,
I need to get it together.
I can’t even find a way to
lie down that feels good.
I admit, the floor is hard,
and my stomach
a bad bowl of soup.
This stuff is killing me.
Alarm clock breaks in,
“Will you listen to yourself,
sayin,‘This stuff is killing me?’”
Go to hell, alarm clock.
There’s nothin but bad news
on the BBC, nothin
but an empty process.
5. Wendy’s
By now I’ve given up
sleeping on the floor.
Like most of the other
ideas I’ve had, it was dumb:
just really boring and academic.
The skein of paint
has reached its taper.
I’m out of Parliaments.
Even the GB has sprung a leak.
Finally, I’m at the counter.
“Yeah, can I have an original
double with cheese?”
And then I pause cuz
they always ask,
“Combo?”
And I say politely,
“No, no combo…
and a great biggie fry.”
The fries are for alarm clock.
Aron’s Speakers
Yo, yo, yo I don’t have to use those speakers you gave me—the hot ones,filled with cocaine? if I want Ican justthrow them away right after I blow em out
The Man with the Meager Moustache
For weeks I’ve been tryin to grow a moustache. But still it isn’t much better than the teenage clerk’s at the corner grocery, the one who cards me every time I try to buybeer.
Mayday
I remember the first timewe did mushrooms (the firsttime I did, anyway). We drankparrot bay rum with cola, smoked cigarettesand watched baseball. At the end the only regret was that we were outta mushrooms. We’ll get more you said, sonaturally, so confident. Iwasn’t so sure. But we got more all right, we got more.
Stan
I. In front of the Press Well, Stan’s Ambassador to the U.N. can kiss my ass. He’s totally out of control and it’smaking me uncomfortable. But didn’t Stan’s Presidentattempt to befriend Your President as a pen-pal? The details of that letterhave not been disclosed.Really—if you must know—the negotiations havecentered on complex taxissues and convolutedstock swaps. … Continue reading Stan
Thunderstorm Watch 295
Turned down for anotherjob today, some publicinterest outfit. Didn’t wantit anyway maybe theywere disappointed when Isaid I was a fiscal conservative,that this latest supplementalis fulla pork. They can smellit on me—th’aversion to lobbies,the disdain for raising funds—blownfrom key to key in this economicarchipelago. * Why’d I start Oliver Perez today?Gave up four runs to the … Continue reading Thunderstorm Watch 295
JBR.com 