His Humour of going a pyrating proceeded from a Disorder in his Mind, . . . occasioned by some Discomforts he found in a married State. –Charles Johnson, A General History of the Pyrates (1724) News travels its own paths. The king, let’s say, signs an edict, ring-laden fingers drawing quill across parchment, it’s bound […]
Contributors 78
Patrick Crerand: Seaworthy
Miss Lehman had just finished her lunch when Franka Cattiace reported that a bee the size of a ham had swooped down the grounds of Saint Christopher Elementary, lifted Scot Aker by the ear and carried him away for good. The post-recess funk had yet to descend on the children who seemed to vibrate with […]
Michael Agresta: Pirate Story
(Singapore, 1785) The royal ships form a line across the mouth of the harbor, blocking access in and out. The old hotelkeeper, whose only customers are travelers and sailors, shakes his head at the horror of these pirates. Even the whores can squeeze a living out of the local menfolk for as long as this […]
Adrian Matejka: ‘Where-o-where is the Blues’ Blues
Ma, Ma. . . I want some milk. —R.L. Burnside I just found me some blues glued & jimmied into a milk bottle’s neck, big thing in a small space like the busty chick fronting that swart ship: four foot leeward from flipping the script. Four latitude & four long from the back-step on the […]
Adrian Matejka: from Domo Arigato, Mr. Mulatto (Dub Style) Sample Three
I am. . .I izam. . . the modern ma-ma-ma-hn, who hides behind a ma-weeee-ask. . . Don’t blame the Halloween masks, scuba masks, eye & mouth joints used to rob the corner market. My mask has teeth & tear marks like bison meat. Open sockets like somebody took the bulbs out. It fits easily […]
Mary Paulson: Dinner
over pepper steak I must admit I don’t like you much but try to pull apart my ribs on the way home for us I wear a light perfume this evening something floral I can smell with my tongue up in your room I’m darkly lit, heavily guarded, held in abeyance the way you hold […]