“In reality art is always for everyone and for no one”
Eugenio Montale
••• The Mad Gallery •••
untitled concrete sculpture ~ Mario Loprete
To see ALL of Mario’s mad-nificent works, as well as our other featured artists (45 total!), visit our Mad Gallery!
••• The Poetry Forum •••
This last week on Mad Swirl’s Poetry Forum… we looked at sky with a different eye; we pondered far on a German car; we fought no longer for the fat war monger; we nothing missed for a writer of lists; we mixed in the head that she meant what he said; we surrendered systemically, fell ill epidemically; we took endless life over lifeless end. These words we write are what we intend. ~ MH Clay
I C U by Tony Robinson
The nurses
Come and go
Talking of pulmonary flow
The living breathe
And the dead exhale
Every minute
Now a lifetime
As this world ends
For us
With a rattle
A pulse
A beep
To bridge the
Sanctity of the living
Rebuild the shattered coil
Proclaim the victory
Over death again
We have
Refined the horrifying
In situ Frankensteinian
Resurrection of the body
Long since past
the freshness date
Stamped on it
By the hand of the Almighty
Or the coding of the double-helix
October 12, 2019
editors note: This is why some choose D N R. (We welcome Tony to our crazy congress of Contributing Poets with this submission. Read more of his madness on his new page – check it out.) – mh clay
Up To The Minute Mindset Virus by Mr. Authenticity
Hours and hours of escapism…
Numbing videos and games;
Watch as others Sanitize keyboards and surrounding area,
Germaphobe in a Surgical mask.
Choosing the most infested places.
Annoying Repetitious sounds and
Contemporary lingo lacking depth of thought!
They coexist and colink!
Phase to fashion create the next fad,
The only thing I keep saying
Is, Keep your distance!
Afraid of a different type of infection…
Shudder. Shudder. Shudder.
Public place seems the most contagious.
It spreads to different screens in different forms;
Live on the street and escape into the screen.
Plague unleashed mindset virus!
Up to the minute and current conditions.
Engage in Mediocrity and Monotony nothing else given any thought!
Mindset Virus controls the life you live over and over again…
October 11, 2019
editors note: Stay clean! No screens! (You, too, can fight Subliminally Transmitted Diseases) – mh clay
Miss Interpretation by Anthony Dirk Ray
“I love you so much,” he said
“you are my rock”
as she thought
you are my rock too
the rock tied to my feet
pulling me
down
to the bottom of life’s ocean
taking in water with every p a s s i n g day
immersed in disappointment
asphyxiated with regret
the realization of wasted years
caused rivulets of despair and hopelessness
down
both
cheeks
as he thought
she really does love me
October 10, 2019
editors note: Assurance in one brings angst to another. So sad… – mh clay
this is a list of lists by Emily Ramser
i have a list of reoccurring nightmares tucked under my pillow
next to a list of first lines for new poems
i have a list of things to do before i turn thirty –
see Hamilton live, go scuba diving, find my brother –
and a list of things to see before i die –
a clear night sky, the roots of a rainforest, and Shakespeare’s gravesite –
i have a list of tequila brands i can’t drink anymore
and a much shorter list of red wines i actually like
i have a list of things i should buy at the weekly farmers’ market –
radishes, rainbow kale, green onions –
and a list of what’s cheaper at the supermarket –
tofu, strawberries, carrots –
i have a list of chores to do this weekend –
wash the pots, clean the cat box, sweep the floors –
and another of homework to do this week –
a paper on theory to edit, a blog post to write, an article to read –
i have a list of places it’s safe to park around campus
with all the spots i won’t get towed
i have a list of things that make me shake –
heavy footsteps, slamming doors, hands where they shouldn’t be –
and i have a list of affirmations from my therapist
in the glove box of my car for the days
i want to write lists of everything
wrong with me
October 9, 2019
editors note: Better list less than listless. – mh clay
As we stand in array for battle by Joseph Farley
Let the walls tumble
and the horns sound.
There’s money to be made
from all that rubble.
Removal, repair, reconstruction.
Jobs. Jobs. Jobs.
Hold back not your valor.
Your economy needs you.
Fight as though your wallet
depends on it.
October 8, 2019
editors note: Praise the lord and pass the ammunition! – mh clay
Beetlemania by Phil Huffy
And then came the last of the Beetles!
Indeed, business constantly slowed.
The newspapers cleverly said it,
in proclaiming the end of the road.
I had one, you know, and remember
the feel of its primitive seat
and challenges faced in the summer
to turn off the blasted thing’s heat.
And as for advancement of romance,
at drive-ins or other locales,
I’d venture to blame its compactness
on the dearth of amenable gals.
My neighbor now harbors a Beetle.
I think it’s a ’73.
I’ve thought about making an offer –
ten bucks and my old SUV.
October 7, 2019
editors note: Demand died cuz cramped coitus. – mh clay
Nest of water by Hem Raj Bastola
Traveling
In the universe,
Oh! Gallivanter
Seeker of wisdom.
Teach him to live,
A thirsty peregrine is
Struggling with
Mirage.
For which libation?
Squeezing to drink, infused.
Immortalizer musing,
Being curious to know, ask:
Who are you?
Loitering with light:
Lightning rider,
Burning fire of the sky,
In a vault of wings.
Nest of water,
Incubating embryo
Inexplicable hatching:
Yolk of the clouds.
Delivering the drops
Of the rain.
October 6, 2019
editors note: When the water breaks… – mh clay
••• Short Stories •••
This week Mad Swirl brings you a double feature from Contributing Writer & Poet, Harley White!
Here’s what Short Story Editor Tyler Malone has to say about this prose pair:
Daily those fairy tales that existed thousands of years before our young ears took the words to our small hearts find new ways to live again. And again. And again.
(photo “Wine Sleep” by Tyler Malone)
Harley’s duo, “Picking Up the Thread” & “Who Me“ is all ready for your reading consumption right here!
•••••••
The whole Mad Swirl of everything to come keeps on keepin’ on… now… now… NOW! Every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month, every year, every decade, every every EVERY there is! Wanna join in the mad conversations going on in Mad Swirl’s World? Then stop by whenever the mood strikes! We’ll be here…
Bein’ Everyone & No One,
Johnny O
Chief Editor
MH Clay
Poetry Editor
Ty Malone
Short Story Editor
Madelyn Olson
Visual Editor
Mike Fiorito
Associate Editor