We both knewwhat was coming,but still we argueduntil the end. Until the attendantssecured the maskover my faceand lowered meslowly into stasis. At the last secondyou put your handup to the glass,just like in a movie;I was too druggedto lift mine,but tried to tell youwith my eyes,It’s not too lateyou can still join meon the other…
Category: Magazine Content
Nights
It is my wife who always gets the phone. When she is not in, I just let it ring until it stops. “It is Paula,” she said as she slapped the receiver into my hand, and then, “Leo, who the fuck is Paula?” * This was nearly four years ago and she was very tense…
On Certain Days
there is inside my house a flightof rooms removed by halfan inch in a directionthat I can’t quite nameoff a little at an anglelike in the drawing of a childbut how to get there seemsimpossible to figure out. I sometimes feel the wallsand listen. I wonder ifthere’s something hiddenin those rooms. A cornerwhere the puppeteers…
The God of Goosemeadow Lane
Two storeys, upper-level balcony, separate entrances. He might have to do something about that, Harry realized. Bird Palace, the box read. The word palace had caught his attention. Surely this was what he needed. Plus it was only £29.95, which was a good deal. – The cashier grunted as he heaved the heavy cardboard box…
Nan-e
Nan-e, this is a messageTo say: I love you.With mum busyYou make me Content. Wake me With musicSpeak Latin At breakfastPull lessons from cloudsChart progress. You,Set food remindersSet pill remindersNan-e,Count my stepsGuard me from Germs and Conditions;Save myCookies, readBed-time storiesOver speakersAt night; I imagineThe next episodes Of my favourite showsWithout your parentalControls. Nan-e, remember When…
Do Something Amazing Today
A blood van has just parked outside. Don’t look surprised; you’ve let the summonses pile up over the past fortnight or so. A man and a woman get out. He checks your house number. She opens the boot and gets the equipment for taking blood and, where necessary, bodily restraint. Whichever one’s knocking, they make…
Nest
Not far from the university campus, an elderly man walking his small dog turns into an underpass and finds a shopping trolley, alone in the tunnel. The sight of it, suddenly there, a skeletal shadow in the empty space, makes him jump. The underpass is a regular route for students returning to campus from the…
The Few Who Eat Us
Who could fail to admirethose few who eat uswithout compunction? Great whites rip with serrated teethand call others inwith your hemosignal. Tigers when you are sweating and swatting in the banded shadowswill crush your throat. Crocodiles will bite then twisttheir whole body roundto strip you clean. Most admirable of all are polar bearsnearly invisible in…
With Compliments
We are the hotel of the lost. There are no maps on the front desk, because none of you would read them. There isn’t a street sign on the wall outside. The door has no number. You found us anyway. Welcome. * Sinead has been running. Two minutes late is okay. Five is a problem….
You Met God in a Gas Station at 3AM and He Hated You
He bought a pack of Rizlas and kept you waiting while he counted the change.You stood perfectly still to hold the moment open and tried not to care about how he stared at your tits. This was one of those nights where the world had endedand you hoped it would begin again with an empty…