10.
I go to clear up the books and other items that have fallen into the sand pit. Tiny ones for jewelry and makeup. The gold control panel in our entryway brings up any menu in town. Floating down the hall on a gurney. The elevator tilts and lands softly on its glass front. I go to an asylum with friends as a social outing; when a woman there smiles at me, her mouth is an O and her teeth, completely black. After a lifeless investigation, he allows them to leave. Somewhere, I breathe too deeply and his hot air balloon pops. In order to fly in Iowa, I must relearn the horizon. Wanting to learn a children's counting song in English, his new Krishna neighbor sits horrified in black listening to the recorder. Red lipstick. Pollen and buds all over the floor. A whale stares up at me, suffocated in cellophane wrap. Please refer back to The January Book.
11.
Once, I watch him drown in a water-wave machine. After the girl in the formal blue dress, men hoot. The poisonous kitten squirms around in her hands, and I end up with toast and the last fruit drink in the milk case. Wearing the letter-carrier uniform that got me into this buffet. While playing a card game in which the ace of spades is lower than the "411" card, he admires the Medusa cigars. They plan the party's theme, The Dead. Black lines radiate out from the bullet in her thigh. They were so avant-garde when they came here, the art teacher complains, as she flips through notebook after notebook of Snoopy drawings. The suicide bar is placed in the car's back seat so that, if it is pulled, only that part of the car will come to a screeching halt.
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The Writer: With undergraduate and graduate degrees in English literature and creative writing, poetry, from UCLA and UF, Gainesville, Michele Pizarro Harman has published poems in such literary journals and online venues as Quarterly West, The Antioch Review, Mississippi Mud, Midwest Quarterly, Puerto del Sol, Sycamore Review, Berry Blue Haiku, Shepherd’s Check, a handful of stones, and Miriam’s Well. She currently lives with her husband and two of their four children in the small town in Central California where she and her husband grew up; beyond the cows, crows and cranes, she teaches reading, writing, and math to K-6 special-needs students in a public elementary school. She may be found at: www.michelepizarroharman.com.
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The Artist: Luka Fisher is a Los Angeles based painter known for his frequent collaborations, mixed media projects, and work with musicians. He has designed forthcoming releases for LA based bands Feral Kizzy and Death Hymn Number 9. His work was also featured in Feral Kizzy's latest music "22 A Month" which you can view here. He has also collaborated with a wide range of artists, writers and photographers including---Dash Hobbeheydar, Brian Pulido, Brenda Carsey, and Tate Hemlock. His work has been shown in Los Angeles, Detroit, Phoenix and is held in private collections in the United States and Russia.