December 2009
32 posts
Short, Short, after Two Hours with Raymond Carver... →
To believe in everything is the way I would choose – a
certainty for the next moment, and the next. Scenes of
the day – houses along the road, dog in the yard, grackles
on…
Reservations by Meg Pokrass →
Toni remembered how, on their first date, she and Tom traded tongues at a French Restaurant, told each other, “no, no, no…”
Tom had laughed at her bout of hiccups. She squawked,…
Two Writers Play Modern Warfare by Frank Hinton →
I sign on to my Playstation account. I start a Bluetooth chat with my roommate Noel, who is up in his room on his Playstation. After a great deal of peer-pressure, Noel has…
Hosting (Part 6) by Hazar Worth →
Encoded into each fragment, encoded into each part, encoded into every system, encoded into every act, lies a fire waiting to be known.
The sun floated above her like a kind and…
Metazen Charity Christmas Book →
Merry Christmas. Below is the Metazen Christmas book, free for download. Thank you to all those who donated. All proceeds will go to the Sunrise Children’s Village Orphanage in Siam…
The Concept of Anxiety, American Serial part 16 by... →
The lump of meat is warm and juicy and Francis chews on it for a long time. Though he knows the thing to be unhealthy and fattening, he shows no sign…
The Problem With LEDs by Gerry Hayes →
The lights are not so piercing now. They struggle against even the flat gray of the day’s gloom. No need to look for broken bulbs. Twenty-first century. Light emitting diodes adorn…
Ballad of Timothy Tungsten by Doug Bond →
Mighty Timothy Tungsten
Was tongue-tied again
With a bridle in his mouth
His head full of gin.
He paced around the dim corral,
Dancing with the dogies
A half dozen wranglers …
Aesthetics by Garrett Socol →
“Hello,” I said to the freakishly beautiful woman with the wavy red hair. In a navy blue dress and knee high leather boots, she was standing on the express line at Marvel’s Market.
Best of Metazen: Winnie the Pooh and the Very... →
One day, when Rabbit was taking his medications, Tigger bounced his carrots to smithereens and Rabbit had an idea. A wonderful, terrible idea. Rabbit, you see, when he was just a…
Hosting (Part 5) by Hazar Worth →
3. We Serve the Waiting.
A large busy moth stirred around the dimly lit light-bulb of his small lamp.
Even with his large headphones that covered his ears and made them itchy with…
Birthday Wishes by Anthony Abelaye →
Sometimes people make mistakes.
I sit in my study with my glass of wine considering the ones that I have
made over the years. Then I consider the one that she is making right now,
Phereomones →
“You can buy kitty pheromones at pet stores now, for Pete’s sake,” my husband said.
He bought sinus medicine from the drug store, the wrong kind again.
“Just lie still,” he said.
He put the cone to my nose, said “snort,” and I followed orders, always. I was allergic to the cat. The cat was peeing on the rug and the vet said we could try an animal behaviorist. Getting another cat would only...
Eden or Geometry, poems by Ganga Dhakal →
Eden or Geometry?
I wish the degrees of dreams were
equal to the angle of my heart.
In this world of geometry,
I wanted to ignore the formula, and Directions
For the class…
The Mice and The Cat, a Tale in the Spirit of... →
The long and the short of it (the wide and the narrow of it; the up, the down, the fore and the aft of it) is this: cats eat mice.
(I think about this statement and decide that it…
Decisions Made at the End of the World by James... →
I was 26 when the world started to end. Arguably, it had been happening for a long time before that, of course; wars were starting more than they were ending, crime was becoming…
Best of Metazen: Seven Things about Gin by Sean... →
How the First Feels:
The green bottle, its label preying the glitter-lit way, studies my lips with a cool detachment. Why did I bring you here? For your synapse to flutter-sing….
Hosting (Part 4) by Hazar Worth →
2. We serve the Many
He was dreaming now.
The waters were always perfect back then. His Father and mother would sit up on the slight elevations in the sands, Mother wearing that…
Minor Traffic Infraction by David Breitkopf →
In my rear-view I see him yapping to the dispatch, taking his sweet time. Fine, take your time. Take my time. I’ve more than you know. They love keeping that light flashing around….
Watch
Bloodshot Coffee and Sleepy Feet, Poems by Paula... →
Bloodshot Coffee and Sleepy Feet
Sleep is a leaky Styrofoam cup on the windowsill
with day old coffee.
It’s cold and stares at the moon,
picks loose threads of…
Camp K by Meg Pokrass →
Soon, she will allow the other campers to know she’s not fucking around, this is life! She is still young and attractive, and can play bingo with a large group of night people. She…
No One Remembers Weak Women Unless as a Bad... →
Fact:
She is krazy-glued to a husband, house, and three children. Whenever anyone asks anything about her life she wants to say killing. How, oh how, her hungry mouth hanging open, does…
The Rule of Cats: Modern Society and impending... →
Cats conquered the human race over three thousand years ago, and have been enslaved ever since. The Egyptians literally built massive stone idols to them…
Four Fundamentalist Teenagers in Front of a... →
That morning, four children appeared in front of the train, which was ready to depart and would carry them to an institution where they’d spend the day yawning while pondering how…
Hosting (Part Three) by Hazar Worth →
1. We serve the All
There was the sound of no hope.
His stomach wouldn’t stop growling. The sound echoed off the blinding white, stainless walls.
Light eating sound, light…
& the children will grow alone →
She farted on the dog’s head.
The dog panted, stupid.
Then it painted, panting.
The fart was warm.
It called itself “Fart Fart.”
He counted clocks: HE,…
Anything Seen From a Distance is Instantly... →
Once the last aria fades, a young man leans against the railing of the theatre’s grand entrance, singing fragments of Orpheus and Eurydice. He closes his eyes and the grief…
My Imaginary Dinner with Lydia Davis by Meg... →
The problem is the dog, the food, Lydia Davis, or me. Someone or something is passing wind. L.D. is trying to let me know that it isn’t a big deal by talking very brilliantly about nothing….
The Metazen Existential Christmas Book Charity →
Authors can be so selfish.
We sit and we write, pour things onto paper hoping to evoke, mull around in our minds and manipulate the lives of non-existent people.
I would…