#4

The crystallization - of time

The transportation - of the words

That all fall out when you shake them up

And left - a name - to stay

August - 15 -15

The eyes have eyes have eyes have eyes

And brains - to squeeze and smell

If you could escape - the switch of the past

If you could turn the shade - back on

18_Aug / a year and change later

Repetition only - helps

If the muscles - know the game

While here - just spins out

Of pictures - you scratch - again

new short story up online: Daniil Ivanovich Kharms

I wrote a new short story that's made it's way out into the internet tubes - Daniil Ivanovich Kharms.

If you life self-referential fiction that is so self-referential it burns out the sun, check it out over at The Ironic Fantastic #2 (a free ebook).

New short story up: Something Anonymous

This post is a little late in coming, but I should mention that I have a new short story up online at The Prague Review.  Here the write-up from the site:

Certain scenes require very little introduction. They need no explanation and would find ruin in the ornamentation of further elaboration. Think: Paris. 1944. San Francisco 1965. Prague 1989. And so it is with Joshua Walker's Something Anonymous. It's a story that needs little initiation. Let's begin it simply. Liquor store. 11:30 p.m.

I'll take it!

New short story up: Cafe Two Times Bright

I have a new short story up - follow the links to:

     Cafe Two Times Bright

:: John was staring at the classic radiant Russian blonde ...

... [ published at pif magazine ] ...

Coursing the poison to drink

On such a banal day 

The world could end and

You'd be checking your phone

Glancing at the traffic

Yes I Will

The first is a series of 15-Year-Old Poetry:


Yes I will allow you to look into my eyes
Even he with white-washed walls will not soon arise
Many scores of caverns deep, and lush forests' cries
Have I transversed, beaten, drowned, and let myself despised

Down within the pupil, that murky marred stone
The light of a thousand burnt-out candles has forever shown
The pain inside it, strong and lean, is leagues from having flown
It remains there, drawing, feeding; stalwart in its tomb

Jammed in golden laurel leaves the king stands so tall
Mice to men, and babes to beasts he watches as it falls
In the stillness of that hour, he with rising power to call
Is the chaos of the night, is the demon out of sight

Along the hill of fallen men the glory takes its toll
But in this way they did not drop for you to mete and dole
You would yourself have beaten down, to shake to stir to stone
All in the spite that you just can't see what makes a poet's soul

Two new series: Insomnia Poetry, and 15-Year-Old Poetry

It's been a while since I've added new content (apart from links to publications) so I thought I'd start two new series.

The first is Insomnia Poetry, or things I write in my dayplanner when I can't fall asleep.

The second series will be 15-Year-Old Poetry which is pretty much what it sounds like: stuff I wrote as a young lad o' 15. Some early 16 may be mixed in, but even then I had the tendency to not date my work and thus forever imperiling the research of future generations of literary scholars.

First 15YO poem is coming up soon.

Newest Story up online: Open-Minded Gentleman

My newest story is up online here.

Feel free to join the comments and complain about my usage of colons, "Cock-Sucker Lips," and a narrator who (possibly) dies at the end of the story.

Or is it too much a parody of Russian Literature. I don't know anything about Russian literature, but I have a very strong opinion on the matter.

If you've been redirected from the Everyday Fiction page, welcome! My complete list of short story pubs is here.

New story coming out next week

Dear: My five readers.

I have a new story coming out, that will be published April 7, at Everyday Fiction.

It is a story I have tried to place for three years, and I'm happy to find it a home.

Will update then.

Newest Story up online: Tanya's Bare Legs

My second publication over at Thieves Jargon. You can find the link to the story here and a very unhelpful message board - hijacked by some DB named "Mather" - here.

The tagline they put up with the story is "--Vodka, cotton panties, and how to be a Muscovite." Which really sums it up.

I should also add that this was one of the better editorial experiences I've had with the online publishing ezine smallpress world - they really care about the details over at TJ. I think we went through about 5 drafts of the ending before we felt we had it right, so any comments about that section would be welcome.

That's all, kids.

new story up online - crossroads

My newest story, Crossroads, is up online at Sein und Werden here. The December issue is based around the theme of the Bauhaus, which was not not only the inspiration for a lot of the cooler things at ikea but also a major architectural/furniture movements that fuses form and function.

According to wikipedia it's:

a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933.

Thanks, wikipedia.

So check out how various short story writers have applied this theme to fiction ....

Keep checking this space - I have another short coming up within the month.

inappropriate suicide limerick #1

there once was a writer named Wallace

in grammar he always took solace

and like former betters

defending their letters

did find that a knot will still fall us

Still the time for a Russian bride

I wanted to link to this old post, because I think it is funny.

I recently went back to the website, and amazingly it is exactly the same as it was before. In fact, even though it is two years hence, Jerry H. still has the same message and same claims that he has been using the site for "four years."

If you have some extra time, check out the video at the bottom left of the homepage.

the most annoying thing is that, since I do Russian literature, the "Anastasia" ad is present at least 95% of the time somewhere in my google reader or my gmail.

[addition: I just had to add the "Anastasia" protocal for dating one of their Ladies:

1. Log In to Anastasia.
2. Go to the Lady’s profile with whom you want to meet with.
3. Select * Date Me on the Lady's profile.
4. To invite your Lady to meet with you, simply complete the Date a Lady Request Form. Your credit card is charged once you request a meeting. Please note you may request a meeting no less than 72 hours before you wish to meet with the Lady.
5. Your invitation will be sent to the Lady for confirmation. If your suggested day and time is convenient for the Lady, you will receive a confirmation.
6. If the proposed time is not convenient for the Lady, you will receive a letter suggesting a more convenient appointment.
7. You may either accept the newly suggested time or offer another.
8. As soon as you and the Lady agree on a suitable appointment, you will receive a confirmation. From that point you proceed to the meeting place at the appointed time.

]

[final addition: why are they always only wearing bras?]

Double glaze the windows
And drink tea by the fire
Bake oatmeal cookies at
Night, to reinforce the smell

Fold crisp newspapers on
Steel Gleaming tops,
Laugh as you keep the cold out
To close your eyes til dawn

Separation – kills – the bones
Of – what the bond – must make
In light of – breathing – even
Just not – when heat – removed

Pity - the broken
pigeon
He'll never heal -
again

Bones can - bend
and brains
Can stick -

Wash you out
to - sleep

On the reject side
of the tape
you hear the scratches
the malaise, rushing -
and the genuine
promise that there always
will be time

How to Meet the Irish in Moscow

In case you were ever wondering:




If you would like to add your voice to the chorus of outrage, please contact the Irish Embassy in Moscow.

Stories up Online --- as of 2021

:: here are the 13-and-counting stories I've placed online so far -- many others are slopping about slush piles::


[13] - > Cafe Two Times Bright

:: John was staring at the classic radiant Russian blonde ...

... [ published at pif magazine ] ...

[12] - > Something Anonymous

:: Liquor Store. 11:30 pm...

... [ published at the prague review ] ...


[11] - > Daniil Ivanovich Kharms

:: Daniil Ivanovich walked into a bar... a fantastic ironic extremist bar ...

... [ published at ironic fantastic #2 ] ...

[10] - > Open-Minded Gentleman

:: The West really must teach Russia more about multi-cultural inclusion. The narrator of this story will start today, in this very subway car...

... [ published at everyday fiction ] ...

[9] - > Tanya's Bare Legs

:: Vodka, cotton panties, and how to be a Muscovite...

... [ published at thieves jargon ] ...


[8] - > Crossroads

:: a surreal take on yard maintenance and bar etiquette, published in the Bauhaus-themed issue ...

... [ published at sein und werden ] ...


[7] - > If Distance Had its Charm.

:: Because if you want the long distance relationship to work, you have to just believe in the future...

... [ published at 42 Opus ] ...


[6] - > In disgrace with fortune and men's eyes

:: the best place to get coffee: clearly in your local suburban department store, one possibly dissolving through time ...

... [ published at sein und werden ] ...


[5] - > Sveta the Flower Dealer

:: Russia's most secret weapon lives in a pedestrian underpass ...

... [ published at underground voices ] ...


[4] - > Three Damsels in the Neon Bath

:: because what happens when you follows the girls from the cafe? ...

... [ published at southern cross review ] ...


[3] - > Wendy's, Honey

:: how a trip to the drive thru can lead you face to face with the Great Abyss ...

... [ published at thieves jargon ] ...


[2] - > Travel Photography

:: maybe they should be suspicious that he's always in the right place at the right time ...

... [ published at contrary ] ...


[1] - > Atomic Age: A Play in One Act

:: two loving parents go on a campus visit to their son's apartment, who is obviously making great strides in graduate school ...

... [ published at ygdrasil ] ...


[0] Previous publications appeared in the now-defunct [ hiss quarterly ] ... [ starfish poetry ] ...  [ aggregated press ] ...

Illusion of Control

I’ll tell you when to breathe –

And fill the space between –

I’ll tell you when you fail me most –

Under weight of apology –

Guts in the Basement

Guts in the basement

That’s alright

They’ll do you for today


What fists can’t carry

Revenge Ignites

Pass it – as a stone

"If Distance Had its Charm" - now online

My most recent short fiction publication, If Distance Had its Charm has just gone live up at 42 Opus.

... Because if you want the long distance relationship to work, you have to just believe in the future...

you are a dirty little french girl

the tired symbols won't wear out
because we call them something else
any day now
you'll cut your skin and just
expect to bleed