Month: September 2024

Essay

The Enduring Cliché That One Must “Look” Like A Writer In Order to Really “Be” One

At the beginning of Only Murders in the Building’s fifth episode in season four, “Adaptation,” Marshall P. Pope (Jin Ha), the screenwriter tasked with adapting the OMITB podcast, declares of Being A Writer, “It starts with the look. A look that says: I’m smart, confident, worldly. Important, but not self-important.” (Riffing on the adage, “Dress for the job you want,” which means most bona fide … Continue reading The Enduring Cliché That One Must “Look” Like A Writer In Order to Really “Be” One

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Poetry

Later Better Than Sooner by Dale Champlin

Sex after seventy—I was just gettingto that. But first, pull the covers up.If you could just let me say itlike it is. Hold my foot between your palms.Don’t let me interrupt the proceedings.Don’t look. Better yet,turn out the lights. This isn’t our first rodeo after all.Last time I thought I had run off with the handsomest knife throwerin the circus.  Everyone knows it’s futile to try to … Continue reading Later Better Than Sooner by Dale Champlin

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Poetry

Rice Soup by Alessio Zanelli

A bowl of boiling soup,a pinch of grated cheese,a glass of dry Lambrusco.Here the dark five monthshave just begun, they thinkfor one last time, in the end.Waiting for the broth to coolwhile eyeing black and whitephotos strewn on the couch.Feelings resurface I cannotuse, although I loved themonce, as I fail to remember.Day by day year after yearthe night stays a younglingwhile recollections go stale.Flavor of … Continue reading Rice Soup by Alessio Zanelli

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Poetry

The Clybaun Hotel, Galway, Last Day of August 2024 by Steve Denehan

The sauna is visiblefrom the swimming poolallowing me to monitorthe comings and goings the comings dry upthe last person leavesI give it ten minutesjust to be sure my senses are overwhelmedthe steamy hazethe smell of cedarthe thick, dense heat perfectexcept for the man that sitsjust inside the glass doorhunched over, head down a big man, burlywho did not enter on my watchwho must have been … Continue reading The Clybaun Hotel, Galway, Last Day of August 2024 by Steve Denehan

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Poetry

A Modern Carousel by Kevin Richard Kaiser

Overlooking native automata,the architecture is harrowing.Hand-carved and hand-painted,endangered peculiarities—Komodo dragon, silverback gorilla,poison dart frog, honey bee,tapir, peninsular pronghorn,double-wattled cassowary—circle an imagination of conservation.Nestled between princess ponyand mystical unicorn, the policehave friendly faces, welcoming.The screenwriter, in desperate need,can nestle between the dung beetles. Continue reading A Modern Carousel by Kevin Richard Kaiser

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Poetry

The Intimate Friend, René Magritte, 1958 by John Bradley

Look. His back has turned, turned upon us all.There’s no end to the denials of an intimate friend.Denying his erotic glass of wine, his amorous baguette. While his back has turned, I can say anything.There’s no end to the horniness of this intimate friend.He kissed this glass of wine, this flirty baguette. I can’t stand it when he turns his back on me.There’s no end … Continue reading The Intimate Friend, René Magritte, 1958 by John Bradley

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Interview

The Fire Within Q&A With Chiara Maxia

The Opiate took some time to talk to Chiara Maxia about poetry, her process, her inspirations and her new collection, The Fire Within. Check out the interview below! The Opiate: If you had to quantify how many years in the making The Fire Within has been, when would you say you actually started working toward creating a collection of work that so seamlessly ties together? Was it … Continue reading The Fire Within Q&A With Chiara Maxia

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Poetry

How to Sulk Effectively When You Can’t Get Your Way by Antonia Alexandra Klimenko

1 Feel sorry for yourselfPut on a sad faceDress in fatiguesBe hard to pleaseTell them you’re fine   sniff sniff   never better  Talk about the weather  Be ambiguous unclear and indirectSHOW them you’re upsetTell them nothingthey might otherwise on their own suspect 2 Know your target   (It’s always the one who cares)Even the score wage a cold war    Gently reject and refuse them   confuse them Make them regret how you were … Continue reading How to Sulk Effectively When You Can’t Get Your Way by Antonia Alexandra Klimenko

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