Dark Brain of Night

Adam Lawrence

after Charles Simic

 

This song is a perforated line in your head, a distant chainsaw or electrified fence. You perform a one-man, one-fly vaudeville act (or a scene from Breaking Bad). Somehow bring all limbs into contact with every piece of furniture in the room. Toe obliterated on the solid oak foot of a dresser. Knee lacerated after barking a file cabinet. Groin barely escaping religious conversion in its intimate brush with a pair of scissors hanging on the corner of the desk. But the (aptly named) fly is being itself, is everywhere you are not, is the dark brain of night. And before that—the furniture coexisted peacefully with the fly.

 

 

 

 

Adam Lawrence’s poetry has recently appeared in SurVision Magazine, Shot Glass Journal, and FreeFall Magazine. In his spare time, Adam dabbles in small press projects. He works as a freelance editor and writer in Florenceville-Bristol, NB, the “French Fry Capital of the World.”

Caught in the Throat

 

Adam Lawrence

 

 

They sweep the yard, after life.
Old territory gets domesticated with new names.
But underneath: ochre, slate grey. Their voices
like a seam of bituminous coal. Throttle-song caught
in the throat. These feathered missives
fill the air like tar filling the lungs.
No morning comes. Only mourning.
A gurgling croak replaces angel-song,
nodules grow. They count less
but think more, not bound by sedentary
math. One consonant away from a virus. 

In this country, there’s only receding—
from asphalt to soil, from gums to teeth.
Mark their warped flight path, their
sick warbling. A disease with a German
name. Industry poisoning earth and air.
Your own moon now a pale shell, but
underneath it, hear: their choking wrathful
anthem. Only fire from the throat
will burn your green paper
stamped with dead white men.
Green lies, which they’ll ram
back into your craw. Caw.

 

Originally written as a response to “CHAIN 8: Hibernate, Sweet Ghostess,” by Chris Tompkins (pub in Carousel, April 8, 2021).

 

Adam Lawrence’s scholarly essays on folklore and science fiction have appeared in several journals, including two anthologies in the McFarland series “Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy” (2013, 2014). His poetry has appeared in Vallum: Contemporary Poetry, The Feathertale Review, Cypress Press, and long con magazine. He’s currently at work on several poetry chapbook projects. Adam holds an MA and PhD in English, and currently works as a freelance editor and writer in Florenceville-Bristol, the “French Fry Capital of the World.”

Train : a journal of significant delay

Issue #11/12 : Constance Bacchus Domenico Capilongo Jeremy Luke Hill Adam Lawrence Emily Murman Robert Priest Emily Sanford Bryce Warnes Derek Webster

includes shipping

Canadian $4.00 CAD American $6.00 CAD International $8.00 CAD

Constance Bacchus lives with her daughter in the Pacific Northwest near Grand Coulee Dam. She has writing in or forthcoming in City Brink, Revolute, Salmon Creek Journal, Dreich, Cirque, Shrub-Steppe Poetry Journal and Cathexis Northwest. Her first poetry collection is named Lethe (Cyberwit, 2020) and a second one is due out soon. She has some writing at Them Dam Writes Online.

Domenico Capilongo is a Toronto high-school creative writing teacher and Karate instructor.  His first two books of poetry, I thought elvis was italian, hold the note and short fiction collection, Subtitles were shortlisted for several awards. His latest books of poetry, send, is about the way we communicate. His work has been featured in several anthologies as well as national and international literary journals. He has recently finished a manuscript about words that were born in the 1970s. He also writes an interview series called Un Momento for italocanadese.com. Find out more about him at: domcapilongo.wixsite.com/home

Jeremy Luke Hill is the publisher at Gordon Hill Press, a literary publisher based in Guelph, Ontario. He is also the Managing Director of Vocamus Writers Community, a non-profit community organization that supports book culture in Guelph. He has written a collection of poetry, short prose, and photography called Island Pieces; four chapbooks of poetry called Poetry of Thought, CanCon, Trumped, and These My Streets; two poetry broadsheets called Grounded and Indexical; and a series of poetry broadsheets called Conversations with Viral Media. He also writes a semi-regular column on chapbooks for The Town Crier. His writing has appeared in ARC Poetry, The Bull Calf, CNQ, CV2, EVENT Magazine, Filling Station, Free Fall, The Goose, HA&L, The Maynard, paperplates, The Puritan, Queen Mob’s Tea House, The Rusty Toque, The Town Crier, and The Windsor Review.

Adam Lawrence’s scholarly essays on folklore and science fiction have appeared in several journals, including two anthologies in the McFarland series, Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy (2013, 2014). His poetry has appeared in Vallum: Contemporary Poetry, The Feathertale Review, Cypress Press, and long con magazine. He’s currently at work on several poetry chapbook projects. Adam holds an MA and PhD in English, and currently works as a freelance editor and writer in Florenceville-Bristol, the “French Fry Capital of the World.”

Emily Murman is a poet and educator from Chicago. She is currently working on her MFA thesis. Her debut chapbook, SHRIVEL + BLOOM, is forthcoming via Dancing Girl Press in 2021. As of July 2020, she is a reader for Monstering Magazine. Emily can be found on Twitter @emilymurman.

Robert Priest is the author of seventeen books of poetry. His words have been debated in the legislature, posted in the Transit system, quoted in the Farmer's Almanac, turned into a hit song and sung on Sesame street. His latest recording of songs and poems BAAM! is available on Spotify, YouTube and iTunes. robertpriest.org

Born in Nova Scotia, Emily Sanford is a queer writer and performer who holds an MA in Literature and Performance from the University of Guelph. She is the winner of the 2016 Eden Mills Writers' Festival Literary Award for Poetry and 2018 Janice Colbert Poetry Award, and her poetry was listed amongst The 10 Best Poems of 2016 by Vancouver Poetry House. Her work appears in Canthius, Grain Magazine, Minola Review, newpoetry.ca, and Plenitude Magazine, and a recent poem was set to music for four-part choir by composer EKR Hammell. Emily lives and works in Toronto, and co-curates the popular Brockton Writers Series.

Bryce Warnes’s poems and stories have been published in Joyland, PRISM, Poetry is Dead, and elsewhere. He lives with his family on Vancouver Island in traditional, unceded Quw’utsun territory

Derek Webster’s Mockingbird (Signal) was a finalist for the 2016 Gerald Lampert Award for best poetry debut. He received an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis and was the founding editor of Maisonneuve. His poetry and prose have appeared in many publications including The Malahat Review, The New Quarterly, Boston Review, The Walrus, and elsewhere. He lives in Montreal.