Even if two Pacific octopuses succeed in copulating without a scratch, they both enter a stage called senescence. It's a "dementia-like" state that begins soon after mating and only ends with death. Lulled by the warm seabed currents I did sleep and have a dream. I was swimming across our vast dark, scarcely a blade of grass in … Continue reading Reverse Cosmic Horror | obligatory animal POV story
Against Turning Into Your Parents | a note
Don't forget to hang up the phone after the call is finished. Don't forget to speak into the phone after the other person has picked up. Don't talk to a third person while you're on the phone. Don't attempt to figure out Skype or other forms of Internet telephony. Don't whispershout when there's company. Don't … Continue reading Against Turning Into Your Parents | a note
FINAL BOSS | a video-game prose poem
< *~ * him at 23. observe.↓* ~ * > Old armor creaks as Boy touches knee on ground. Tower looms in the distant night. Showtime. "COME ON, BOY. COME SAVE PRINCESS." They go to her with peacock glaives; they go to her with dragon horses. Younger, faster, more vicious. What's this old knight to … Continue reading FINAL BOSS | a video-game prose poem
a prayer for stillness | a prayer
There was no dancing around it: I had found Jesus in a hole in the wall. His Grace shone at me through the tiny tunnel of crumbling concrete. I kept fingering that unlikely home of His yearning for the tip of me to reach and caress him, an embrace I hadn’t known I needed my … Continue reading a prayer for stillness | a prayer
Mátyás Király | a Budapest nightmare
F̵̯̰̦͕͕̀͑͑̅͒͑̋́͘o̷̤̭͔̝̤̼͛̐̊̽̾͝r̸̡͚̝̬̲̫͖̜̐̾̏̔̎͘͠ͅ ̸͎̘̙͉͌͂͂̆̽̂̑͛̏̽M̷͖̍͜ḁ̵͖̝́̉̌t̵͔̽̒͋̐̅̈́̅ý̴̛̠͉̭͔̜͚͇̲̗͂͆̔́͗ͅá̷̧͈͇̬̪̝͇̀̈́̓̕͘s̵̪̫̯͔̱̠͓͙̫̅͛̚͝ for shame One day, I will get off the tram, cut to the narrow side-street, on time for a change, I will find the rolled-up shutters over the run-down doors, put my hand in through the missing window, turn the handle, walk down the stairs, the lights will be off, but that happens, … Continue reading Mátyás Király | a Budapest nightmare
The Game | social anxiety kōan
It's hard ∅ • Ꙩ to talk ∅ • Ꙩ about the Game ∅ • Ꙩ without making a fool ∅ • Ꙩ of oneself. That's partly because it's ∅ • Ꙩ the game's nature ∅ • Ꙩ to change itself ∅ • Ꙩ all the time. And the game ∅ • Ꙩ has been … Continue reading The Game | social anxiety kōan
Star-crossed | towards a personal philosophy of love
They asked the man who fell to Earth: what do your people make of love? He replied: "I've seen empires disintegrated in the flash of a solar flare and crumbling suns swallow themselves into black nothingness: nowhere have I seen a force that matches love. Love is polymorphous like the forest yet pervasive like mist. … Continue reading Star-crossed | towards a personal philosophy of love
the friends we keep | a Grand Guignol
I think about the friends I've stuck with over the years and come up with certain commonalities: They're all weirdos They all enjoy holding opinions The opinions don't have to make sense They have all survived the Coronaphage Home is the place where you can argue freely and also the place where there is ample … Continue reading the friends we keep | a Grand Guignol
quarantine fear | a note
"At least I got to write my novel," he last thought to himself as the health department put all his belongings to the torch.
REPOST: Odysseus Butthurt
This humor piece was originally published on the excellent Vanity Projection, in late 2018, just as I went back to writing. VP is sadly defunct, so I’m reproducing the piece here, even though almost two years later I’m not entirely happy with its opening, or its butthurt. Nevertheless, even though I’m not opposed to linking people … Continue reading REPOST: Odysseus Butthurt
the Budafoki amended 