streetcakeissue55

‘growing’©olivierschopfer

contents–issue55

cover art – olivier schopfer

marginal utility – jeff bagato

a big thing – howie good

breathing in now – megan denese mealor

lack of words – alyssa trivet

room4 – sofiya voytukhova

after – phil wood

Marginal Utility This poem is not gonna do anything— it’s just gonna sit here like a banker or a fool gurning: Ha! Ho! Dribbling grape juice from his nose & counting up the drops

howie good

A Big Thing

Your body is trembling. It’s like it’s not yours anymore. You need to be careful in interpreting that. The person you love will be somewhere, there, standing last in line. You should ask for help. You don’t want to fuck it up. You have to be able eat in the dark while still paying attention to Hugh Jackman doing something crazy. This, as you’ve discovered, may be difficult. At any time, somebody out there can snatch you away from everything for no reason. So when you see a big thing in the sky, run.

megan denese mealor

Breathing in Now

your dallying dusty eyes

the way a sleeping cat

can claw a stream

of clouded stars

alyssa trivett

LackofWordsPickupthewordslikeforgottenpossessionswefoundyearslater,ormisplacedbatterieslooseinthedrawer,missingfromthepackage.Borrowafewstanzasfromtheneighbor,wholeadsamuchmoreinterestingfairytale,windingstaircaseincluded.Dustoffyourshoesandletyourlifeescalatorleavethoserear-viewmirrordreamsonasidewalkcrack.Carryyourskeletonweightandbouldersthroughthenextdoorframe,alllimbsintact.

≈room4

square v room e round r table t triangle i stool colors alike lines dim light b l u r r e d down look up up toss the coin yes heads success nxt enteround room with a triangle table and a no tails fail square stool in the middle of my room things are so heavy changeable colors people around shades do some lights do some shades when happines s glued you comprehend toss it again fail is heads tails success there are no corners no shapes r q o o n i s m u c r l a t

phil wood

After I wonder at the quiet. Is this all mine? I ask. Of course, there is no other. No voice comes to mind. I wander in the quiet. Is this all mine? I ask. Of course, there are no others. A thought coming to mind. I wither in this quiet. Will there be others? I ask. The thought leaving no other. The quiet gathers my mind.