PEEING IN ODESSA, TEXAS

by AV Rasmussen

Truthout

People look twice sometimes,
call me “sir, I mean ma’am”
sometimes turn away quickly
sometimes snicker
sometimes look at the sign
on the bathroom door

Their eyes
are now weapons
that drill through
stall doors
and strip me for parts

They rip off my clothes
desperate, I suppose,
to know the original
plumbing

my body
is their bounty

but my body proves only
the human need
to pee

AV Rasmussen is an avid teacher, writer, backpacker and photographer who teaches English at Dallas College in Texas. Their poetry has appeared in many journals and anthologies, including North Dakota Quarterly; Veils, Halos, and Shackles; and Impossible Archetype.

AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF SEARCH WARRANT

by Michel Steven Krug 

Seizing the day requires the magistrate of the self to review sworn internal testimony, some of which is redacted by your affiant, as justified, to preserve dignity, when in fact the heavy black asphalt that covers those undisclosed confidential sources, is to preserve self-deception, that bleeds, when heated like molten lava, over all that which is tacit and evident. It is not unreasonable to search the house of the self, reviewing the papers and effects written on internal walls, like semi-ancient hieroglyphs and experiences that don’t belong to you. Therefore, access and seizure, are requested as follows:

1. In the chamber of the xxxxxxxxxxxx will be found ************************************************************************ recordings.
 
2. Between the webbing of the XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX from the Davos Conference.
 
3.In the serpentine lining +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++is currently indecipherable. 
 
4. Amid the left-side quadrant of the papillae ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. toxins.
 
5. Your affiant has personally spoken with ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^, who confirms that $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ has been identified in 141 different locations of the ==============================================, including the bathroom.
 
Your affiant acknowledges that it undoubtedly feels violative, but only by seizure, inspection and reflection, elucidating each and every probable cause, can the path from Top Secret to transparency be realized. Ironically, without the seizure, the soul is defacto arrested, shackled, seized, like a sci fi attack, spilling all over others. Some admire audacity. Others condemn it. But no other remedy short of this relief will suffice.

Further your affiant saith not.

Michel Steven Krug is a Minneapolis poet, fiction writer, former print journalist from the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars and he litigates. His poems have appeared in Liquid Imagination, Blue Mountain Review, Jerry Jazz Musician, MacQueen’s Quinterly, Portside, The New Verse News, JMWW, Cagibi, Silver Blade, Crack the Spine, Dash, Mikrokosmos, North Dakota Quarterly, Eclectica, Writers Resist, Sheepshead, Mizmor Anthology, 2019, Poets Reading The News, Ginosko, Door Is A Jar, Raven's Perch, Main Street Rag and Brooklyn Review.

TO BEAR OR NOT BEAR ARMS /FUGITIVE SECURITY

Two Poems by Alex Nodopaka

📸VISUALS📸

❗️Video from inside the apartment during a missile attack in Kyiv.#Kyiv #Russia #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/SRgk0WXU5F

— Aarian  (@Worldnews195) February 26, 2022

NOTE: This video is NOT from Alex Nodopaka's niece's apartment but from Twitter.

1. To bear or not bear arms

 

As my niece in Kyiv

is being shelled

I write poems

based on her words*

and what I see

on our TV.

 

I hold my Siamese

the way I imagine

her holding hers.

It seems odd to me

with the repressed

memories I held

 

for over 80 years

but that's all I can do

except bear arms

and join her.

I never in my life

thought I'd say

 

Damn Russia.

 

2. Fugitive security*

A poem based on the words of Alex Nodopaka’s niece in Kyiv.

 

The daily shaking of the 5th

floor of the building

where I live frightens me.

 

Nightly I put down

a few blankets on the floor

of my bathroom.

 

The only place that offers

a false sense of security.

Wedging my head

 

between the toilet

and the wall for protection

I try to sleep

 

despite the rumbling

keeping me awake.

 

Alex Nodopaka originated immaculately in Ukraine in 1940. Speaks San Franciscan, Parisian, Kievan & Muscovite. Mumbles in English & un poquo de Madridista. He sings in tongues after Vodka, has studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Casablanca, Morocco. Presently full time author and visual artist in USA.

THE TOILET PROBLEM

Barbara A Taylor’s free verse poems, renku, haiga, haibun, haiku, tanka, and other Japanese short form poetry appear in many international journals and anthologies on line and in print. She lives in the Rainbow Region, Northern NSW, Australia.