by Maxwell Norman
AMERICAN ENGLISH
We’ve long since cut the “u”
from “favourite” to sever all those
ropes to the Old World. To sound
less French and make things simple.
On a bus—last night or before—
I shrunk my world so small
I was struck by the urge to vomit.
In time, I stood and stared with
watering eyes at a soft man,
spewing vowels
in a language other than English.
He let me sit by the window.
I didn’t tell him I’m American—
suspect he thinks I’m French,
if for no other reason than
those damn vowels.
Thank God
and Dharma I came of age
in a country and in a world where
everything gets stupider with time.
Eventually my stomach settled
and I turned to thank my savior-man
in consonants, but he
had already gotten off the bus.
DAILY LIFE
wake up! Read the Newspaper!
there’s a report of a school shooting
and dog running from house fire
started by a jealous ex-lover
Yes
these results emerge from systems
but no one thinks with such words
when the blood pours from that
shockingly small hole.
Having Seen These Tragedies you can
never be the same again, but you are contractually obligated to be different
in digestible or productive ways.
When the world’s Humid Disappointment weighs on you sure as the weather, it’s
Time To Look Up From Instagram Reels
albeit briefly. only in this Age of Blasting Trumpets do we know the true meaning
of the sun always shining on some part of the world,
Since you want to find a companionable darkness (or even a hostile shadow)
but You Can’t.
even where there is no light there is still, somehow, light.
Maybe It’s the House Fire or maybe it is a bulb whose after-image
embroiders itself onto your retina…
Who Knows Anymore
where the fire wanders since it fell
from the sky like a wannabe Lucifer
and took with it all hope of transcendence?
the Most Important Thing is:
I say this with the Utmost Love
****
Maxwell Norman is an American writer living in Morocco. His work has appeared in STIMULANT Magazine and he publishes on Substack under HAPPY FUNLAND