Current
Issue
Volume 12.1
Jonathan Focht
—
Work
Handsome is lucky & November is Wednesday
& waves bounce like commitment to a girl-
friend & towers never stand forever &
single is safe like castling a king &
I watched cows get awards today
(the bugs were nuts) & afterward blacked
out on a carpet & my goldfish swam
like crazy & that means no friends over
& if I stuck a knife in my neck I could
never again boomerang frisbees
or stream sketchy sites or drop a coin
in a crosswalk ’cause of a just-passed ass
in jean shorts & I have this friend
he works in empty schools &
said something once something like
don’t bring corn nuts to the library
& that inspires me to this day.
Story
Hans Capon ran from farm dogs
then he walked on fire,
en route to the next hub
aligning his eyeballs with everything.
Opened with scotch game,
pressured the king, lost,
got dead drunk on red wine.
He’s getting close to grey, to bumhood,
bonkers reluctant to take Tim’s advice.
The church gong bells him awake,
he wakes up flooded, yells at pigeons
big city creamin’ ain’t what it used to be!
He pulls out strange candy, meditates drunk.
He’s so sick of the constant upkeep
so he sucks it all back—
whatever tastes like floral escapism
or brings a host of dental issues.
He pukes a texture he cannot scoop.
Blackflies set up shop in his hair.
They call him transient,
he says engine and temple.
He says his crystal ball
will not be denied.
Jonathan Focht's work has recently appeared in The Malahat Review, Literary Review of Canada, DIALOGIST, Contemporary Verse 2, and elsewhere. He lives in Northern Ontario, Canada. @Jonathan Focht
