Issue 7
June 2001
Amanda Forbes
I am a senior at Ohio State University and aspiring poet. I have been writing since age ten and have been published in my highschool and county anthologies. I like to read and write and hope to become an editor at a publishing company. I love animals and would also like to work at a place in Tennessee called Tiger Haven which rescues abused or abandoned felines.
All work © Amanda Forbes
Mastermind Illusion
Let's not frolic in philosophy-
"I think, therefore, I am,"
the sewer that sucks
Us in. Our hearts can beat
without "where did We come
from"'s and "where are We going"'s.
to hell with socrates
and speculations. this is
Our flowing blood and thumping
hearts. We don't need
plato. We don't need
carl sagan. We don't need
q & a. the tags on Our chains
read "Me", like the earth
belongs to itself. to spin
on Our toes
and revolve
a r o u n d
ourselves...
a speck of dust's dream
made Ours. the sun banished
its bed because We
wanted it to- because We
kidnapped reality and held
it captive inside its quaking
shadow of what We
might become today.
onetwothreefour brick walls
contain My loftly towering
lego-stacked world. blue,
red, or yellow- I can
attach
and
detach
every part.
Let's march down
the street and We
can suck the air
into Our nostrils
then spit it out
through Our mouths,
and then We will know
the sphere is dirt, windy,
and wet because
We
allow it to be.
Carpe Cameron Diaz
We should live life to the fullest
And do something my brother has never done—
Lick a Michalangelo for one—
Never did that, eh?
Draw the shape of a cloud
On the inside of a cathedral
Then claim to see the mother
Of Dizzie Gillespie. I’ve never heard
Of that one. Or maybe say Ciao to a black-
Capped chickadee that lives in your pocket
Lint. If you feel adventurous, speak
With a gondolier in German, or even
A German gondolier about what it must have been
Like being John Malkovich. Check the phone
Book for your name spelled backwards
And call them insisting you’re my brother,
I’m sure the German gondolier
Be impressed.
Edgar and I Like to Drink
Edgar and I like to drink.
Some call us alcoholics,
But no one sees how much waking
Up alone in ditches
Can torment our tell-tale
Hearts, so Edgar
And I, we drink.
Monday nights find us in the Cornerstone
Where we sip pints of ale and sulk
Over his Virginia and my Eric. He claims
He needs to drink for his Virginia now
That she’s gone, and I just drink to the last
Night I spent with Eric. After these tales, Edgar
And I, we drink.When a few brews have hit
Us, we laugh about our parents
Who sent us away to be better
People. And then, Edgar
And I, we drink to West Point
And Fox Run.
When the lights turn
On and last call is shouted
Over spilled Nasty Light
And soaked cigarette butts, Edgar
And I, we drink to forget
About Eric’s
And Virginia’s.