Darling stayed in the back to check the sound level and wait for late arrivals—there were none—and then went back to her desk. She hoped there was a candy bar or some chips in her drawer. She was starving. Her phone was blinking. It was probably her boyfriend, confirming he was going to bring dinner and watch the 8:30.
There’s a thematic disposability to the many iterations of Mr. Phillips that recalls the abundance of white men named Chris portraying the same mold of superhero again and again. There are no white men named Chris on Watchmen.
You and I
have prayed for change
To be loved for who we are
To be seen in truth
To be caught as we fall
We fell together
The way one sinks into a couch
During an anime marathon
we sat three feet apart
Whispered thoughts, My eyes strained
to memorize the glow of her eyes in the dark
In the same breath she tells me that she is
the more stable of us in our relationship`.
because she doesn’t linger too long
on her issues-Doesn’t bleed
onto others
We had a pickle on the river,
and we left our kids
in the parking lot.
100 WORD BOOK REVIEWS / Dawn by Kenning Jean-Paul Garcia
Probably not by design, but the work, humor, and depth of wonder and wisdom inherent in the work of Kenning Jean-Paul Garcia sometimes has the capacity to make me feel small. I’ll read something like DAWN, a wonderous, beautifully-crafted chapbook. I will love every word, every page. In the specific case of DAWN, I will read and re-read a soft, delirious dialog between two characters (I think?). However, I will also wonder just what I’m missing out there in the world. Kenning Jean-Paul Garcia has a vision and mode of embracing ideas that is apparent in every single thing he writes.
100 WORD BOOK REVIEWS / The Mercy of Traffic by Wendy Taylor Carlisle
The history, deep south surroundings, and personal convictions of poet Wendy Taylor Carlisle are a collective wonder to behold. In her latest book The Mercy of Traffic, Carlisle offers a slew of poems that not only create a compelling biographical piece, but also a rather unflinching look at childhood. The way Carlisle discusses childhood in particular is one of the book’s greatest strengths. In the way she approaches poems such as “Like a Tide” and “Driving Toward Houston”, it is clear that these pieces go deeper than simply remembering an event. Everything is up to deconstruction here. Everything carries a voice that has much to say about the present, in addition to the past.
100 WORD BOOK REVIEWS / Searching for Candy: John Candy: A Biography by Tracey J. Morgan
“Lovingly” can quickly become a backhanded compliment for a biography. However, it is still the best word to describe this deeply-researched biography of the gone-ridiculously-too-soon John Candy. Tracey J. Morgan has combined both a clear voice that writes interestingly with a passion for the subject matter which I cannot imagine any other fan of John Candy being able to match. These thoughts rushed along with me, as I read through the book in just a few days. If you’re a fan of John Candy, you deserve to feel as though you’re talking about this genuine legend with someone so well-informed.
FILM / Captain Canada's Movie Rodeo / July 2020 / Gabriel Ricard
Gabriel Ricard discusses the launch of HBO Max and delves into movies at a streaming site near you in this month’s Captain Canada’s Movie Rodeo.
I was here yesterday and got reunited with Sal. Not out of the ordinary, in a town this size. She had on dirty jeans and a T-shirt that said, Gardening is for Lovers. “One edible before working in the garden helps me stay mellow,” Sal said.
They wish to repossess me
like I wasn’t demon first -
finding my way back through my ancestors, my coven, my guides.
I feel like I’ve given you quite a bit of space, almost five years if I’m not mistaken. I heard you had a kid last year. It might be time we ended things.
i pause my song to bid new friends earlier made farewell
they depart, i press play, the crescendo starts to climb
all aboard, we leave, and we find night has taken the helm
There is a parcel of land where everything is true
in reverse. Ribbon-cutting ceremony into the Mayor’s
grave plot, where Nana Ida is a shopper putting on her lipstick,
shade 53, Maui in the Moonlight--Setting sail after the war
Each year she gave him a new yo-yo. When he was eight, she gave him his first grown up Duncan. “You’re ready for this now,” she said. She could no longer climb the stairs, so she’d stand at the railing of the back porch and watch Freddie practice in the yard. The secret to successful yo-yo play, she told him, was long sleep times.
He immediately went back to Erika’s reference. His first impulse was that he now had to write the best, most helpful letter that he’d ever written. He felt a bit frozen at that. But as he thought about it more, Grady began to wonder if Erika would have been able to write such a glowing recommendation, particularly in the time immediately after their breakup.
Wanting control
direct this dissonance of life
laying lifeless in the death of ego I know.
In my dreams, I am leaping off
a star and then I’m a starfish sparkling in a turquoise sea—
a celestial cleansing for a woman
who just wanted to have sex most of the time.
Sonya looks at me. I think of turning over, going back to sleep, avoiding the man, who has targeted Sonya and looks imploringly at her. Standing above us, he is ominous—primal man with primal needs. Sonya, feeling singled out, sits up, jostles me, whispers, “Want to go?”