The box and the apocalypse may seem far apart in terms of meaning, one being as mundane an object as we can find and the other the extreme of esotericism. But it doesn't take much analyzing to see their deep relationship. The box hides and protects, the apocalypse reveals (its actual etymology) and destroys (as … Continue reading APOCALYPSE IN A BOX

The slogan for Maximus Magazine, my online-only foray into the realm of indie lit, is “No ideas but in people.” As an overly-obvious “reversal” of William Carlos Williams’ much more famous “No ideas but in things,” it’s cute, but I’m afraid it’s not enough. There are types of poets who’d like it if poetry were … Continue reading DEATHOLOGY

How To Exterminate the Intellectual Caste I. - Introduction Identifying the target and annihilating it; the guiding principle is clear and precise. Circumstance, including how one’s faculties are arranged and directed within it, brings the complexity and obscurity. But the principle remains, and may serve to guide attention and action even in the most obscure … Continue reading WIPING THE SLATE CLEAN

A pot, simmering in the kitchen, comes to a boil-- Signaling to the bereaved that now is the time to engage in the ceremonial post-memorial meal.  The dour facades are struck with the uneasy feeling that the physical absence of the lost engenders in them as they make their way to the dining room. This … Continue reading THE WRATH OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD

Of the newborn which stars second to the titular Eraserhead, Jack Nance (who would later die with a crescent moon-shaped bruise around his eye): The most unlikely theory is that the entity was man-made, perhaps crafted with Play-Doh or papier-mâché and what can only be described as “movie magic” to match real skin and organs. … Continue reading POSSIBLE ORIGINS OF THE ERASERHEAD BABY

To All the Sloshed Sad Bois Booze can be a panacea, but it can also be the thing that kills you. It is a slow-acting poison, although the morning after often feels like the late stages of something inoperable. The conundrum of the amber bottle, at least for me, is the fact that I use … Continue reading BAR STORIES, PART III

Tits To Top It All Off “I am never going back. I have never experienced something so depressing before. Suicidal even.”  This is not exactly what I said. It is a paraphrase, but it gets more than just the gist. These, my little innocuous words, came tumbling out of my lips after visiting my first … Continue reading BAR STORIES, PART II

A hundred and ten years after the fact, it's clear that all industry of Mankind in the twentieth and twenty-first century had been mobilized as a kind of revenge against the iceberg that sank the Titanic. The sinking was Nature's violation against Man's ambition (at best; hubris at worst)--the unsinkable vessel proved sinkable enough, as … Continue reading THE WRECK OF THE TITAN