Coca-Cola 125th anniversary event, Terre Haute, IN, 11.21.11

WONDERING ABOUT MEANS


you question something, in your mind. "I'm wondering about school,
should I have extra English lessons?" American self-esteem has taken a beating lately

so we could use some good news, and now we have some even though
it arrived from haggard old eyes that turn to silence, darkness, smiles,

endless nights and endless miles. Narratives of the author's
experiences in the field strike a surface noisily to attract attention, especially when

waiting to be let in through a door just for shits and giggles.
There's an ingredient of good writing that comes no other way,

and the more of it you do, the better. The wannabe sons of mobsters
create incredibly sophisticated (and temporary) works of art

by knocking them down, and get themselves into more trouble than anyone
could anticipate. More and more persons had gone into the mountains,

and every available point near the town had been preempted.
This reporter shall attempt to dress casually

in a golf shirt with a vagabond crew, powerful enough to
knock someone unconscious. There's nothing I wouldn't do,

but I've started talking to myself. It's giving me earache.
And I keep wondering who's holding. Does anyone happen to know

the front sprocket's torque spec off the top of their head?
I can't find my manual, for I just moved.

Buy some books from me

Before I sell these to a store, I thought I'd try to sell them myself in order to make more money. Let me know if you want to buy any. I'm selling them for half price.

Poetry:

Waifs and Strays — Micah Ballard
Standing in Line for the Beast — Jason Bredle
Pain Fantasy — Jason Bredle
drift — Kevin Connolly
Who's Who Vivid — Matt Hart
Ordinary Sun — Matthew Henriksen
Spinoza Doesn't Come Here Anymore — Colette Inez
Darlington's Fall — Brad Leithauser
Hallelujah Blackout — Alex Lemon
The New Year of Yellow — Matthew Lippman
Hecate Lochia — Hoa Nguyen
The Comeback's Exoskeleton — Matthew Rotando
The Girl Without Arms — Brandon Shimoda
Walking the Black Cat — Charles Simic
Theory of Orange — Rachel M. Simon
To Light Out — Karen Weiser

Fiction:

When the Nines Roll Over — David Benioff
Misconception — Ryan Boudinot
The Dissident — Nell Freudenberger
Platform — Michel Houellebecq
The Blindfold — Siri Hustvedt
As She Climbed Across the Table — Jonathan Lethem
Home Land — Sam Lipsyte
The Comfort of Strangers — Ian McEwan
The Coast of Akron — Adrienne Miller
Everyone's Pretty — Lydia Millet
In the Cut — Susanna Moore