The record on the turntable spins,
but the needle is lying. It speaks only
of a specific moment in the groove.
The air is the truth. Its gentle tips
run the entire groove at once.
Which I guess is beside the point;
The History of Tulips says
never trust a circle that could have
chosen to be a straight line.
I’m sure I had that in mind
when I wrote the following:
Revolution
is the party we throw
at our unhappiness when we discover
that it looks like tyranny. A leaf
falls from a voluminous tree
and is free to glide across the landscape.
The world is different when it lands.
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Philip Jason’s stories can be found in Prairie Schooner, The Pinch, and Ninth Letter; his poetry in Spillway, Lake Effect, The Indianapolis Review and Hawaii Pacific Review. His first poetry collection, I Don’t Understand Why It’s Crazy to Hear the Beautiful Songs of Nonexistent Birds, is forthcoming from Fernwood Press.
✶
Bill Wolak has just published his eighteenth book of poetry entitled All the Wind’s Unfinished Kisses with Ekstasis Editions. His collages have appeared as cover art for Phoebe, Barfly Poetry Magazine, Ragazine, Cardinal Sins, Pithead Chapel, The Wire’s Dream, and Phantom Kangaroo. His collages and photographs have appeared recently in the 2020 Seattle Erotic Art Festival, the 2020 Dirty Show in Detroit, the 2020 Rochester Erotic Arts Festival, the 2018 Montreal Erotic Art Festival, and Naked in New Hope 2018.
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