More issues
Drunk Pelicans and Iberian Oddities
Dispatches from Kallaikoi land – where even the sea is conscripted, and history clings to the asphalt.
I went sailing off the north coast,
where the Kallaikoi still speak.
But the water had been conscripted –
yellow Canadairs:
low-flying,
with the grace of drunk pelicans
and the moral authority of hazard
You Are Not the Room
You are not the room.
Not the thick air,
the chipped mug,
the mould on the bathtub.
Not the silence that clings to the ceiling,
or the rot of hours with no answers.
You are not broken,
doomed, undeserving,
a fraud.
Nothing wasted,
nothing lost.
You’re just stuck –
like
Fugue for an Old Hunter in Scent Major
– Bach, for two noses, one constant presence.
I. Doof: Opening
Nose low.
Step silent.
The scent begins shallow –
he slows.
Left paw
tests a patch of dry.
There was a bird,
not long.
He turns
before the wind does.
Ribs tighten
around the breath
that hasn’t changed.
Something worth
Men Explain the Wind
They say it’s from the northwest,
force 4, rising.
They say you’ll want to reef the main,
watch for veer after dusk.
They say many things.
They gesture at isobars,
tap their phones like altars.
They pronounce cyclogenesis
with the softness of prayer.
They lean over charts
as
#23. Instructions for Putting Out the Rubbish.
(Porto, alternate Saturdays)
In certain parts of Porto,
the rubbish goes out by category.
Organic on Mondays.
Plastics on Wednesdays.
Regret on alternate Saturdays.
The trick is to label it correctly.
Shame is not recyclable.
Nostalgia is.
Bitterness must be double‑bagged.
Never leave disappointment in the wrong bin.
It
#22. Canine Anomalies, Filed.
The paperwork never matches.
The names are always “wrong.”
At the park, someone calls out: Rex?
And I think,
What a heavy thing to name a dog.
Doof once ignored a priest.
Sig grabbed a philosopher’s sleeve.
They say I bit a nun at school.
We’re not misbehaved.
Entry 2: Things That Surprisingly Did Help (Briefly):
“Not healing. Just friction management.”
– marginalia on a form marked VOID
Closing the door. Not metaphorically. Literally.
Writing a to-do list that included “burn everything” and then doing one actual task.
Letting the email rot.
Dog videos. But only the ones where the dogs ignore everyone.
Saying “no” out
Entry 1: Things That Did Not Make Me Stronger:
“The strength you admire in others is usually a form of damage management. We are not fine. We are just well catalogued.”
– from an unfilled memo, author unknown
Crisis. Apparently, it builds character. It mostly builds invoices.
Taking the high road. Very scenic. Very unpaid.
Having “potential.” The unpaid internship
#21. Pending Adjustment to Gravity.
(Circulation: Level 2 and above only — do not affix to public boards)
To all relevant occupants, systems, and structural participants:
Please be advised that a temporary gravitational adjustment is scheduled for implementation at an unspecified time. This will occur without warning, explanation, or regard for previous trajectories.
Anticipated effects include