A man stands alone in his kitchen hunched over the sink eating a hunk of cheese and bread He is exaggeratedly thin so much so, that you can see his spine through his clothing It's chilly in the room but he doesn't seem to notice Nor does he pay attention to the bread crumbs that …
Author: manu
I can be likened to cauliflower, kale, roman broccoli, grapes, spinach, zucchini, a pink lady apple and an artichoke.
The memory of water
I dragged my hand through the water Divided the surface Created a trench that disappeared as quickly as it appeared Not a suggestion Nor a trace that it had been I don't hate the water I know that when the crest outruns the trough the crash is unavoidable destruction enabling creation creation enabling destruction But …
Another bite
At a bar with Nova and JulianIn walks Simon After two years abroadAnd complete radio silence He is standing thereBeautiful boy The one who Leapt While I lagged Who took large bites While I, small morsels Who pulledAnd I resisted Who draggedAnd I dangled Who let me goAnd I toppled over Time foldedMemories clashed Opportunity …
THE INVITATION
It was odd at first Improvising Cut back the rosemary?Wear dark eyeliner? Marianne was equally exhilarated and ashamed by an unexpected lightness of being that surfaced after a few months of no external scrutiny or judgment Still, she was suspect of her newly gifted freedom, having fallen for its promise beforeLike the time, shortly after …
Due North
From where they lieOnly the tops of buildingsand trees are visibleOutside the window Too limited a visual spaceFor such arrogant righteousnessHindered as they areBoth mentally and physically And yet… Their negative capabilityAnd refusal to stand uprightHas been acceptedAs THE radical expression of truth Recruited by modern day Delilah’sThey willingly cut off their hairThen press a …
What if? Turning History on its head.
James says, "With my pencil, I wrote myself into being." He must do this. Telling the truth of his history and therefore his people is visceral and crucial to their existence. He owes it to himself and to all the others like him. In primis he owes it to young George who stole the pencil …
Martyr
How to live and die with a bang? Life, so consistently inconsistent; un tameable and un frameable. Yet, the protagonist agonizes over the why and the how to live a worthy life and how to die a worthy death. Kaveh Akbar is naturally "cool" while boldly honest in addressing some of the biggest topics out …
Mobile inheritance
All That She Carried, by Tiya Miles, revolves around a cotton sack from the mid-1800s and its contents. The contents, save one, aren't even particularly exceptional: a tattered dress, a lock of hair, three handfuls of pecans. And love. The worn cotton sack was embroidered, in 1921, by the person who it belonged to at …
Fairy Dust
Deliver bold flourishes With impetus and resolve Don't worry about what scatters because the quasi imperceptible particles that settle with feather-light touch of grace could be colossal in consequence
The storm within
The storm within one tear drops crookedly to the ground splashes and divides strewing its miserable contents fomenting fresh despair Photo by Fabian Reitmeier
Manu writes 