Most discussed stories

Meet Robert Grady

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Robert had chopped his hair and grown a soul patch since I'd last seen him. He was tanned, the hair on the top of his head was spiked, and some gray specks were creeping in on the hair on the side of his head. Had…

Anticipation

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before your full lips touch mine.

Doing Time Outside (novel excerpt)

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If you are a family member or friend of a person incarcerated in a correctional facility...

If You Trace Even One of My Words

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with a finger I will let you know. If you mean even just one given look at the moon I will know. If you peel off one lonely star and put that shining shell in your watch pocket for later or to skip across your sad pillow…

Zero

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0 is beautiful0 invented by Indians1 you can almost trust2 is poor3 the figure of human nature4 the face of all paradox5 is a handsome man6 a repetitive voice7 is a temptress9 an ugly and noisy digitSo too is 8100 is rich1000 the symbol of strength1 million resembles a…

Alone Before Surgery

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I spat in the toilet.

Atom

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Devour my horror, embrace it as yours

Further Conversation with the Author

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“After your death is confirmed,” I assured him, “a hardcover first edition of your books, will sell for millions at auction in New York.

The Surrealist Corrections Department

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Brett Littman said that he had seen a costume drawing of a squid atop a pile of drawings at Dorothea Tanning's archive. Mr. Littman did not see a costume drawing featuring a squid at her archive.

Unclean

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The first time Momma shows me a demon is during revival week at church.

Our Valentine's Day Special (From The Law Offices of Paul Steven Stone)

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This year, instead of giving roses or candy for Valentine's Day, why not give something your spouse will never forget. A brand new divorce!

The Bird King's employees

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The Bird King's advisors and ministers are a range of rusty kitchen utensils. They all observe a respectful silence in his presence.——Contrary to popular belief, the Bird King is not an atheist. His meathook priests do their rounds at twilight.——The…

His Name Was Do Re Mi

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I unzip him out of skin. Find what is dark and black inside. Mistake jutting spine for zipper grooves.

The Zone of Forgotten Things

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In the zone of forgotten things, everything moves through a weak gravitational field

Escape

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Lothario Jones rounded the corner and skidded to a stop, trying to catch his breath. He was in a tight spot. The Journeymen were still hot on his trail. His Danger Pistol was out of radium pellets, and his once-full Bag of Tricks was now empty ...

Dream Sonnet

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Last night I dreamt of water rose too high.

On A Trans-Atlantic Flight

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I used to think I could see God in the clouds. Not in an indefinite expanse of clear blue, calm and crisp and quiet, desperate in its infinity, but somewhere up there, among the water vapor masses between us and eternal sky. Not in gray and grumpy nimbostratus, nor fine…

The Great San Francisco Poetry Wars, 17

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So back to Berkeley we went, and started our own commune in a huge rented house on Derby Street where we could tear the fences down in all the neighborhood backyards. We created what we called “The Meadow.”

What He Delivered

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Beginning Amy Clampitt

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The walks along the beach/ render brave, meticulous, taxonomies

Cannabis Emerges, Rampant

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What the hell is going on out here!? Yelled the man with the shotgun

Pleaser

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Yes keeps falling out of my mouth

Pieces of Lou, part 1

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Camper Stacks arrived at the offices of BURN magazine on January 14, 1989 in a state of unaccustomed joy: Lou Reed was going down.

Condensation on the Glass

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Condensation on the Glass Riding down 22, I'm looking out the window. Time is a whirlwind. Your memory relinquishes itself, yellowed and fraying at the edges. It's raining and cold. I make a smiley face in the condensation …

The Fake Humility of Stars is a Terrible Thing to Waste( in Three Recycled Parts)

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F Bomb I am coming in like a blackbird. Like I'm going to tickle your mud. I am coming in carrying a half-sunk message backward. Is that your lonesome answer? I am coming in to sweep for all saints. 'Course I didn't just wake up…

Diorama

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In the center of the big diorama, the real world hangs in the air by a hook.

Savages

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Dream

What the Doormat Said

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It's not my fault I was made to be stepped on, so stop saying what I am with such contempt. Yes, I'm a doormat. No, I'm not weak. I have taken a hundred kinds of treads, twice as many pounds at once, and once or twice there have been cleats. Think about what those would do…

Love

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I said: “Doesn’t he understand? People like me, geniuses—great, mad geniuses—are prone to failures because we do not accept the common notions of society? Doesn’t he understand? I’m not like the others.”

Everything but the Kitchen Sink

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It starts with a letter, down the back of the couch, ending, ‘love, always.' I read only the kisses aimed at me - a firing line running off the page. How long has that letter hidden there? It secreted itself in a corner of the house…