Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Fred Longworth, from Volume 2:2

Fred Longworth never recovered from the dire influences of Mad Magazine. In spite of this, he holds a B.A. in English Literature (San Diego  State University), and an MBA (National University). Self- employed for most of his adult life, Fred succumbed  to the intoxicants of poetry in the 1990's. Does anyone really care about this stuff? His poems have been published in Able Muse, Bloodroot, California Quarterly, Comstock Review, Pearl, Rattapallax, Spillway, Stirring, and the ubiquitous "et al." In fact, his life has largely consisted of "etc." and "et al," with an  extra dash of "moreover."

Below is excerpted "Grace Notes," fropm Volume 2:2:

You try to put a first foot forward,
then the other,
but something's tied a tourniquet around one thigh,
turning it into vast numb pillar,
and the other seems to have a dozen extra knees.
[...]
Then, across the dance floor,
someone utterly beautiful forgives your lunge
and looks beyond your drag.
She smiles at you, and beckons.
You flutter like a drunken moth, tumbling toward
the only lamp on earth.

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To read "Grace Notes" in full, as well as two more of Longworth's poems, open Synesthesia Literary Journal Volume 2:2!