very short stories

this is not the sound of a new man or crispy realization

it's the sound of the unlocking and the lift away

your love will be

safe with me


____re: stacks, Bon Iver






eaten alive, Federico Erra


____1. contingency plan
no one knew where he came from. he never said. he had a trailer, payed by the month. worked at the gas station, smiled, knew all the locals, never minded what hours he was given. at the weekend he'd go to the bar like everybody else. they say for the first few years wouldn't drink anything but soda water. people got a bit suspicious of him, till finally one day, for no reason at all, started on the dark rum. grew steadily sleepy, and eventually stumbled home. he came to like it. he read all the time. sometimes wrote in little black notebooks he kept. never spoke of the past, would just smile at you with his lips (and frown with his eyes) and say ohh man, who knows when questioned. his trailer was full of them, books and notebooks. during the spring and autumn he'd make a little camp-fire and sit outside the trailer staring at it. said he liked the patterns smoke made as it flew away. ash-fairies - that was his phrase, he had a way with words. made him sound like he was from another planet. somewhere too far away.


____2.
(a) probably best to start by forgiving your parents. ex-es. if you can manage abstract concepts, then forgive god. circumstance. (b) drink more water. (c) running three times a week for at least 20 minutes will increase your chances of a long and healthy life- cut it out immediately. (d) do not look both ways when you cross the street, stare straight ahead and smile. (e) in addition to judaeo-christian faiths, practice at least one eastern oddity. we recommend shintoism. (f) take longer showers. (g) resist the urge to write letters. memorials. autobiographies. best to let actions speak. (h) sleep outside once a week, preferable bivouac on grass, good to let the body become comfortable with the sensations. (i) sleep an extra minute everyday. speak one less word. (j) shake hands earnestly, you never know which will be the last. (k) focus. focus. focus. (l) finds homes for your pets, sooner you do this, easier it will be. (m) shantih. shantih. shantih.


____3.
i don't have the energy for you right now. you know i mean it with love.


____4. anthropomorphia
she rests her head on her arm. her arm on the table. she has brown hair, like the silk of a tree-trunk. she's bent like a wilted flower; a delicate insect. her mother sees me looking at her daughter and gives me a stern look. no no no maam, i assure you, i have a different sort of eyes than you are accustomed to. who knows if she believes me. her daughter reeks of magic. in seattle i lost a postcard one day walking home. i left it under a tree i think. she is that tree. she absorbed my postcard, and the love in the ink awoke her. she's found me. my dear, my dear, my dear, is that you?


____5. your love will be safe with me
it's a hard thing to say. can't be easy. some promises are damned-hard to make. too hard maybe. love is not a world i am comfortable with right now. come back later. bring me a smile i can do something with. we'll talk then. here's a hug for your time [___].
____

____6. the wave
can it be turned off? no. not once you know it's coming. so you just sail through? something like that yes. does it hurt? no. not in a... normal sense. so... what's it like then? like being lost. your stomach churns. you forget to breathe for hours. your chest tightens and your hands fidget alot. your brain whirrs. sometimes you feel pulsating. it's best to adopt the fetal position and wait it out. how will you know when it's coming? you can hear it. like the argive ships coming across the aegean. what? the eumenides my dear, the furies do not need to stop to rest. what are you talking about? orestes. run orestes, run.