hive emoji flag mind
waking up virtue
no quality but in repetition
parasocial, brutal
efficiency, it is its own
counter-effect. The paradox
of tolerance, and the un-
tolerable, de facto exceptionalizing
horoscopes today read
simply “cut” and I rode the train
with caution, drafting apology
letters for later in my mind
already. I held up the tri-
angular roof, the what’s-it-called
large architectural feature you
sometimes see at ruins throughout Europe
Artemisian marketplace, political
meeting grounds, courthouse, granite
crowd, marble commons, you can
see through the top. Bird unchoreographed
final resting places in paintings
does lend some variety. Remote
fuels, for those in the know
a less affect boils forth
no lights, conserve electricity
major fan edit in the works
to fashion greater currency
whine of brakes or radiator hiss
overpowers teakettle
genuflection as organization
of the talent pool mirage generated by
excess, radiator pan, humidifying waters
four pounds absent like a song from
a CD that someone punched a little
perfect round hole in, which I saw
this righteous document in full sun
positively brimming with the revelation
for a walk with shortcut
the reflection you see of yourself
in the window glass inside once
it gets dark out can be unbearable
“Let’s enjoy this quail,” he says, as over-
standing it. Bribes on and within
the other side of the day, iron
aluminum parsed with bronze flecks
somewhat goblin
has rejection for breakfast
skips lunch, wants dinner after a
certain point if it can be brought
to them on a fine platter
what capitulation looks like
humanity rubs off on pets, while
all numbers ugly
feeling as if there are no more
values to any, of them, scouts
the celebrity class god
imports no lighter
if memory serves tag à la freeze
5th Avenue-esque pyramids and city walls
pharaoh’s tract of be attentive or
the highway user-generated
such deal report mascots
narrative, the unspoken
plausibly deniable symmetry
then simulation valid for others
traffic light endorphin save
included with the price
placebo representation equals
paralysis by fiat, the gap
vertical drama self-conclusive
“my apologies” surface tension
eye wallowing misunderstood always
slightly wrong, look what I have
edited into copy before a person
grace of aboutness hard-launching
she restored the painting with nothing
but sand and water, circle the wagons
I look again, the clock up in the tower
vehicle hub and docking system
across the water behind you
in one of the pictures you have sent
feel used, for everyday astronauts post-autocrat
meadows open with fragrance
while grocery stores beta test it
like coarse guacamole, to be firewatched
by some new intern publicity immersive
choose your own Camelot or pontiff
ten ten pushing luck, in the American
catfish, with the inertia of a ghost
a landline phone somewhere is chirping
a wristwatch is looked at, the time
is flickering in the gaze of a housecat
home remedy existence, the argued reality
serenity interval wherever possible
Ben Tripp is a writer and performer from Vermont based in Queens, NYC. His writing can be found via Brooklyn Rail, BOMB, Hyperallergic, Guernica, Full-Stop Quarterly, and Gauss PDF. He was a finalist for the National Poetry Series in 2021 and received a City Artists’ Corps grant that same year. He blogs and archives work at benjamintripp.wordpress.com.
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Heavy Feather Review 