Tag: the opiate magazine

Poetry

The Travails of a Homeless Man by John Grey

No particular homemeans every placeis my home.And what roof could carrythe sky’s coattails?But, some nights,the stars are particularly starless,the fresh airbreathes darkerthan bad whiskeyand the doorways I sleep inare narrower, more confiningthan any roomthese bones have laid up in.And where’s the romance,when I smell worse than I feeland everyone who’s out forwhat they can getstill looks at those with nothinglike they’ve got something to give.My … Continue reading The Travails of a Homeless Man by John Grey

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Fiction

Cruising the Mall by Earl Javorsky

So picture this. You’re shopping with your wife and child. Nordstrom. Because you’re fucking rich. She’s looking for a dress, or whatever, and you’re in charge of the boy. He’s three and a half, maybe a bit more. This section of the store is dotted with circular racks, great for hiding if you’re three feet tall. Your boy runs down the aisle with his hands … Continue reading Cruising the Mall by Earl Javorsky

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Poetry

Furthermore, Moreover, Etc. by Naa Asheley Ashitey

I. Can I just be like the mothers of the 80s and the 2020s, and blame Manson for the cocktail of pills I shoot back in the morning and the caffeine I snort during the two p.m. slump. II. I told my mother I’m still a virgin and she sounded just as disappointed as the day we came home the next day after revealing to my dad she knew about his affair. III. I say I am … Continue reading Furthermore, Moreover, Etc. by Naa Asheley Ashitey

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Poetry

Weightless by Jennifer Rood

this temptation to step off the edge / and fall weightless, away from the world                        —“For the Sake of Strangers” by Dorianne Laux It makes me feel somehow betterwhen there’s a name for it—arachnophobia, schadenfreude, sonder for example—those feelings that sit at least two standard deviationsfrom the bell curve center of feelings whereangry, sad and happy live. A man once told me about his compulsion … Continue reading Weightless by Jennifer Rood

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Poetry

Mandira’s Kitchen by Floyd Humphrey

Like slimy gutter rats, Britain’s ICE agents slid through the back fence targeting a chic Indian restaurant,its owner embodying “British values,”employing competent people disregarding their ethnicity: meritocracy at its best Mandira, lauded by Britain’s culinary finest—Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver and Channel 4—was on holiday, delegating managementto those in whom she believedto those in whom she trusted the ICE rats with two pit bulls and Surrey police,who think … Continue reading Mandira’s Kitchen by Floyd Humphrey

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Poetry

A Deeper Ruby and Smoldering Eye by Dale Champlin

—after Rita Dove’s “Girls on the Town, 1946” Thirty seconds across the threshold           music grabs your neck & shouldersshakes you free from questions—           your mother’s worried eyesyour father’s furrowed brow. Across the darkened room           you recognize faceslit by swirling silver flashes— red lips laughing, eyes outlined            in diamond glitter.These are your people,           your sisters in youth. Close your eyes—           ease your body                     onto the dance floor.Let the music envelop you.   Now perfume, … Continue reading A Deeper Ruby and Smoldering Eye by Dale Champlin

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Poetry

Poisons by Susie Gharib

It is not the hebenon that was distilledinto Old Hamlet’s earduring his elysian sleep, nor the toxic taxinethat ripples in the blood streamsof funereal yew trees. It is not The Stranglerof Martin’s A Song of Ice and Firethat constricts one’s throatwithout the aid of a hempen rope,nor the hemlock administered to Socrates’ brewto induce his doom. It is not the poisoned dartsthat feature in Sir Arthur … Continue reading Poisons by Susie Gharib

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Poetry

To Reach 100 Summits by Cithara Patra

To break down your wallsTo break through to youis the same as trying to reach 100 summitsClimbing and crawling your sidesrocks and dirt crumbling under my weightI try to move your boulders,snap the twigs blocking my way,winds blowing in all directionsrain beating down on my backthen come the blizzards hitting my faceyou try to knock me downyou try to keep me from going upyou don’t … Continue reading To Reach 100 Summits by Cithara Patra

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