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Literary Press

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FLARF

The hermaphroditic muppet is called Flarf

When it speaks, the sound is Flarfism

We understand the irony of Googling Flarf

It assumes no responsibility for the flatulent barking of its own genitalia

Whenever charged with treason, it pleads innocence by reason of confused formulaic mechanized result wrangling

We ask it nonsensical statements in the form of a question

The answers are called Flarf

There is no poet I hold in higher regard

It should be cut and hung upside down to bleed out

It should be dismembered; its verses strewn about the kingdom of free wi-fi

And let that be a warning to all who might abuse a search engine

Oh Flarf, you are the worst thing that’s happened to me or anyone

Please come back



KENNEDY’S GHOST 

Last night I was visited by Kennedy’s ghost

We had a good talk about politics and old money

We telephoned the ghost of Marilyn Monroe

Last night I was the photocopy of Kennedy’sghost

I wrecked my car

I let people call me Jack

Last night I spoke with the ghost of the grassy knoll gunman

I was assassinated by the ghost of Patton Oswald and tragically

The scrambled words of my best unwritten poems spilled onto the ghost of Parker Posey

 

two poems and photo courtesy of jaye allen thomas, © jaye allen thomas 2011


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IN CONVERSATION WITH THE NIGHT

You are two hands stuffed into pockets, jacket

zipped tight, three crumpled dollar bills, enough

 

for one drink. You are a slogan carved into 

the sidewalk, the roll of taxicab wheels,

 

a never mind to the morning. I’ve always tried

to put you into the form of a question, to consider you

 

as a matter of consequence, but what can’t be revealed

you hide within yourself: the shape of bodies

 

in the dance floor fog, outside the smoking pits

of old memory, the sprinkled din of cans and bottles,

 

clues and hints. Whose rooftops are you peeking over

this time, under what eave do your pigeon coos huddle?

 

You are a kind of quiet the color of sodium lamps.

Let me say your name.

 

The sound has the roundness of an empty glass,

an alley crowded with shadow, newspaper scraps

 

caught in the trees 

working their way around the wind.

 

BRANDENBURG IN AUGUST

Try and describe how the blackened firs

along the river shift against the clouds.

Like nervous horse, you might say,

or the way Bach can dance around a room.

Still the forest floor stays dark in moss,

 

the riverbed shaded. Those few

gray photographs—a fruit vendor

holding a rope of grapes,

a church steeple pretending to belong

in heaven—every one a betrayal,

 

unfocused and faint with dust

on your desk. You speak and winter

brings the sky to its knees. The grapes

rot off the vine. In the dead fractals of a tree,

the whisper of church bells.


two poems and photo courtesy of matthew zingg, © matthew zingg 2011


<[sic] NOW AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL DETROIT/NYC/SF BOOKSTORE — ONLINE SOON>

<[sic] NOW AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL DETROIT/NYC/SF BOOKSTORE — ONLINE SOON>

&lt;[sic] MIKE LALA WITH HIS CHAPBOOK [FIRE!]&gt;

<[sic] MIKE LALA WITH HIS CHAPBOOK [FIRE!]>

&lt;[sic] BROOKLYN IN DETROIT&gt; poets allyson paty and mike lala, reading new [sic] issue.

<[sic] BROOKLYN IN DETROIT>

poets allyson paty and mike lala, reading new [sic] issue.

Designed in Detroit and printed in Michigan, [sic] is releasing their first edition of chapbooks, which include Detroit authors Charles Alexander, John Brown, Achille Bianchi, former Detroit native Brad Maggetti (Crescent City, CA) and Mike Lala (Brooklyn, NY). Please join us for this reading series at Leopold&#8217;s Books on October 22nd, featuring the music of Audra Kubat, a video installation from Dan DeMaggio and readings by Rachel Harkai, Charles Alexander, John Brown, Mike Lala and Allyson Paty. Artwork by Chris Turner and Jonathan Rajewski. Free Motor City Brewing Works beer compliments of Leopold&#8217;s Books and [sic]. [sic] was conceived and created in Detroit, Michigan as a way to expose literary talent, at no cost to the authors. We will be releasing a quarterly series of five chapbooks (twenty in sum) throughout the year. Come to Leopold&#8217;s on the 22nd of October to listen to some amazing literature and music and to see some great art. See you there!About the readers:RACHEL HARKAI (Detroit) has appeared in Spork Press, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Hotel Amerika, and Michigan Quarterly Review. She is a 2010 Kresge Artist Fellow and recipient of four Hopwood Awards for both poetry and nonfiction. Her work will appear in series 002 of [sic].MIKE LALA (Brooklyn) has appeared in GQ, Red Cedar Review, Offbeat, Low Log, and 1441, among others. He curates Fireside Follies and is one-half of Lie &amp; Indite, a poetographic series in Brooklyn. His work appears in series 001 of [sic].CHARLES ALEXANDER (Detroit) is a Spirit of Detroit award recipient. He writes a weekly column, &#8220;Parting Glances&#8221; for Between The Lines. His work has appeared in the Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, Detroit Homes, Metro Times, and A&amp;U magazine. He is an invited American artist to the Florence (Italy) Biennale Internazionale Dell Arte Contemporanea. His artwork and poems appear in series 001 of [sic].ALLYSON PATY (Brooklyn) has published her poems in Tin House, A Similar but Different Quality, Underwater New York, Frontier Psychiatrist, Boxcar Poetry Review, I Am A Natural Wonder, and Low Log, among others. Her work will appear in series 002 of [sic].JOHN BROWN (Detroit) has been gardening and painting for decades in his Woodbridge neighborhood. Always carrying an am/fm radio playing Pavarotti, John writes and paints in volumes. His artwork and poems are published in series 001 of [sic].

Designed in Detroit and printed in Michigan, [sic] is releasing their first edition of chapbooks, which include Detroit authors Charles Alexander, John Brown, Achille Bianchi, former Detroit native Brad Maggetti (Crescent City, CA) and Mike Lala (Brooklyn, NY). 

Please join us for this reading series at Leopold’s Books on October 22nd, featuring the music of Audra Kubat, a video installation from Dan DeMaggio and readings by Rachel Harkai, Charles Alexander, John Brown, Mike Lala and Allyson Paty. Artwork by Chris Turner and Jonathan Rajewski. Free Motor City Brewing Works beer compliments of Leopold’s Books and [sic]. 

[sic] was conceived and created in Detroit, Michigan as a way to expose literary talent, at no cost to the authors. We will be releasing a quarterly series of five chapbooks (twenty in sum) throughout the year. 

Come to Leopold’s on the 22nd of October to listen to some amazing literature and music and to see some great art. 

See you there!

About the readers:

RACHEL HARKAI (Detroit) has appeared in Spork Press, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Hotel Amerika, and Michigan Quarterly Review. She is a 2010 Kresge Artist Fellow and recipient of four Hopwood Awards for both poetry and nonfiction. Her work will appear in series 002 of [sic].

MIKE LALA (Brooklyn) has appeared in GQ, Red Cedar Review, Offbeat, Low Log, and 1441, among others. He curates Fireside Follies and is one-half of Lie & Indite, a poetographic series in Brooklyn. His work appears in series 001 of [sic].

CHARLES ALEXANDER (Detroit) is a Spirit of Detroit award recipient. He writes a weekly column, “Parting Glances” for Between The Lines. His work has appeared in the Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, Detroit Homes, Metro Times, and A&U magazine. He is an invited American artist to the Florence (Italy) Biennale Internazionale Dell Arte Contemporanea. His artwork and poems appear in series 001 of [sic].

ALLYSON PATY (Brooklyn) has published her poems in Tin House, A Similar but Different Quality, Underwater New York, Frontier Psychiatrist, Boxcar Poetry Review, I Am A Natural Wonder, and Low Log, among others. Her work will appear in series 002 of [sic].

JOHN BROWN (Detroit) has been gardening and painting for decades in his Woodbridge neighborhood. Always carrying an am/fm radio playing Pavarotti, John writes and paints in volumes. His artwork and poems are published in series 001 of [sic].

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<[sic] GREETINGS>

designed by jonathan ryan rajewski. photos (circa 1940-1970) from a dumpster behind MOCAD. stamps designed by jr and pressed at detroit marking products co.

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<[sic] PROOFS PROOF>

nearly knocking at (y)our door. coming soon.

/jr

<[sic] TRAVELS TO BROOKLYN>

join us at brooklyn fireproof for fireside follies, a monthly multidisciplinary event in bushwick. mike lala, the curator of the event, will also be in attendance to promote the september release of his chapbook in our forthcoming first series.

won’t you come?