from FAUCET

12.

you cast a wide net,
but i’ve got bigger fish to fry
in the sensory deprivation tank.
in a game of cat and mouse,
i can’t see the cat for the fleas.
i opossum.
i grouper.
i open up my mouth
& GULLET.
then when i can’t see the waves for the seas,
ima fish outta water.
ima mudskip.
HOOK ME IN THE EYES & SELL ME:
in the land of milk and honey,
who churns the butter?
who bakes the bread?
i mean count me in as a mouth in the stable,
but GRAB YOUR GAFS, KIDS,
WE’RE GOIN GIGGIN,
& ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES, BOYS,
WE’RE GOIN NOODLIN,
cause these fat fish’ll eat themselves.
& these frogs’ll croak to deaf,
RIBBET?

22.

In a landscape of ether and burnt toast,
watch me 8-bit with my mother of millions.
We can swamp genders with the
ALL MIGHTY AMERICAN HOLLER,
ride in on our capybaras with the chicken of the sea,
carvin out coconuts and shavin em dry,
milkin these utters while droppin my breadcrumbs.
Griddle me this:
banana split me
open-faced ironing board
& spread the chocolate sauce.
One door closes and another one opens
cans of peaches covered in extra syrup,
piles of pancakes and peecans
dusted in fantasy sugar.
Box cutter me this,
you dime a dozen cracker jack:
What’s the sound of one hand clapping you in the face,
while you’re striking out at the plate
at whatever is pitched?
I climbed to the top of the mountain
with no penny in my pocket
to be told I hadn’t even left the casino.
Well, Texas rig,
Guaca molly,
Holy jeebles
& lap it up.
Primp your perms,
dirt your dobbers,
peel your prawns,
Posh Posh B’Gosh,
In spacetime diaphragms,
I saw three dogs chase 2 opossums up 1 tree.
three dogs chase 2 opossums up 1 tree.
three dogs chase 2 opossums up the
LOG RIDE!
LOG RIDE!
LOG RIDE!
Kick it into high gar!
For heaven’s snakes,
you can WORD through this:
Just because there’s one bad grape in the cluster
don’t mean you’re risking the whole vine.
What do you bean,
what do I bean?
I like it here, don’t i?
The salamander as an indicator:

THIS TRAIN TERMINATES HERE.

Alex Gregor is a writer, editor, and instructor currently living in Rome, Italy. He is one of the founding editors of OOMPH! Press and was previously the curator of the DIRTY SOUTH reading series in Atlanta, Georgia. His chapbook, FAUCET, was selected as a finalist for The Atlas Review Chapbook Series (2015). His work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Fanzine, Real Pants, NOÖ, Entropy, Deer Bear Wolf Magazine, DELUGE, Queen Mob’s Tea House, and elsewhere. He has a MA in English from Georgia State University. You can find excerpts of his writing at www.marginalcomets.com.