ISSUE TWENTY THREE: Let Yrs Slay Me | ← first poem

Pay Attention Update

Benjamin Nardolilli

Critical security alert! Turn back now,
The winter twilight of black and gold seems nice
enough to build a fire in, stop.
Go no further, your bravery needs
no testing, there is nothing more to prove tonight.

The shadows are not who they claim to be.
Native trees? No, they are masks
worn by a cabal in search of personal information,
you will go out to them and cry
thinking darkness will protect you.

Nonsense. After the essential myths run out,
you will find money missing.
The shadows will get lost and soon you will too.
Think it will build character? Guess again.
And this controversy will not get you karma either.

Benjamin Nardolilli currently lives in New York City. His work has appeared in Perigee Magazine, Red Fez, Danse Macabre, The 22 Magazine, Quail Bell Magazine, Elimae, The Northampton Review, Local Train Magazine, The Minetta Review, and Yes Poetry. He blogs at mirrorsponge.blogspot.com and is trying to publish a novel.

ISSUE TWENTY THREE: Let Yrs Slay Me | ← first poem











ISSUE TWENTY THREE: Let Yrs Slay Me

Toti O'Brien
   Second Blooming

Donna Dallas
   Epic Wretch

Juliet Cook
   When I was a little girl,
      I threw a rock at a crab
      and accidentally killed it

Jennifer Metsker & Kendall Babl
   Uninvited Images Arriving
      to the Lightless Shale of Sleep

Heikki Huotari
   Unfinished Sympathy

Barry Charman
   Becoming

Benjamin Nardolilli
   Pay Attention Update