THREE PROSE POEMS | KRISTINE ONG MUSLIM House and Men after Vladimir Kush’s “Wind” When seen from below, we are all versions of staircases seen at various angles. There’s the one who carries the ladder. There’s the figure who is burying the body in the backyard. There’s the forlorn one, the smirking one, the one whose hands are full of carpentry tools. The hired hands wear gloves when collecting garbage. In the front porch are the slats from a broken daughter we all wish we can hammer back down. The windows bend outwards, letting out the wind. Guilt escapes in all the right places. A giant blue shirt billows where a roof should be. Night Fish From now on, there will never be any flat land, just water. All words will be derivatives of fixed names denoting the ocean surface bearing the image of the moon. Everyone is still entitled to his own secrets: that misanthrope with the chubby face, that tightrope junkie, that minimalist rearranging his arms to fit a slinky dress. Everyone will learn to paddle towards the nonexistent shores. Everyone will follow the Ferryman’s trail as he searches for the submerged continent. The sound of oars cutting the water clean will be the most familiar sound in the universe. Mirage after Soizick Meister’s “Mirage” Whenever we dream in the middle of this eleven-year drought, we come up with this: A man sits on a makeshift barge drifting aimlessly. The waters, blue-green from this side of the world where we are trapped in the uppermost floors of whitewashed apartment buildings, taper into ripples. The closer the waves are to the horizon, the stronger they become. A dolphin leaps in the air. The man on the barge applauds. Splashes of water everywhere. Hitting his balding head. Hitting his face. His laughter we can hear over and over. Kristine Ong Muslim has over four hundred publications worldwide. Her first full-length collection, A Roomful of Machines, is forthcoming from Searle Publishing. Her publication credits are listed at http://kristinemuslim.weebly.com.http://kristinemuslim.weebly.com/shapeimage_1_link_0
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AUTUMN 2010 COVER THREE PROSE POEMS CLAUDIA SEREA THREE PROSE POEMS KRISTINE ONG MUSLIM THE THING ABOUT DEPARTURES TASHA COTTER DAYDREAMING IN MY LOVER’S ARMS AFTERWARD DAMON McLAUGHLIN THE POOL DAVID MOHAN FINGERS MICHELLE MILLER INSECT EFFECT ANNIE BELLET RECENT AWARD WINNERS REBECCA LEHMANN SHERMAN ALEXIE MEREDITH MARTINEZ REVIEWS BENJAMIN PERCY TOVE JANSSON C.K. WILLIAMS KARA CANDITO BOB COWSER JR. KATIE DONOVAN SUSANNA DANIEL Autumn_2010.htmlClaudia_Serea_Prose_Poems.htmlClaudia_Serea_Prose_Poems.htmlTasha_Cotter_Departures.htmlTasha_Cotter_Departures.htmlDamon_McLaughlin_Daydreaming.htmlDamon_McLaughlin_Daydreaming.htmlDamon_McLaughlin_Daydreaming.htmlDavid_Mohan_The_Pool.htmlDavid_Mohan_The_Pool.htmlMichelle_Miller_fingers.htmlMichelle_Miller_fingers.htmlAnnie_Bellet_Insect_Effect.htmlAnnie_Bellet_Insect_Effect.htmlhttp://www.contrarymagazine.com/Contrary/Factory.htmlSherman_Alexie_Census.htmlhttp://www.contrarymagazine.com/Contrary/Love.htmlReviews.htmlBenjamin_Percy_The_Wilding.htmlTove_Jansson_Travelling_Light.htmlCK_Williams_On_Whitman.htmlKara_Candito_Taste_of_Cherry.htmlBob_Cowser_Jr_Green_Fields.htmlKatie_Donovan_Rootling.htmlSusanna_Daniel_Stiltsville.htmlshapeimage_5_link_0shapeimage_5_link_1shapeimage_5_link_2shapeimage_5_link_3shapeimage_5_link_4shapeimage_5_link_5shapeimage_5_link_6shapeimage_5_link_7shapeimage_5_link_8shapeimage_5_link_9shapeimage_5_link_10shapeimage_5_link_11shapeimage_5_link_12shapeimage_5_link_13shapeimage_5_link_14shapeimage_5_link_15shapeimage_5_link_16shapeimage_5_link_17shapeimage_5_link_18shapeimage_5_link_19shapeimage_5_link_20shapeimage_5_link_21shapeimage_5_link_22shapeimage_5_link_23shapeimage_5_link_24shapeimage_5_link_25shapeimage_5_link_26