an actual person in a concrete historical situation (Excerpt)
Blake Middleton
sports announcer on a youtube video i’m watching describes federer as a mongoose on amphetamines
my homeless friend nearly slits my throat while showing off his new box-cutter
questions raised in the course of a life are often disquieting, unanswerable
water sloshes in the gutters
we navigate through time with money
words create problems they can’t solve
a three-legged dog wears a shirt that says the guacamole is extra and so am i
in iraq protesters stand outside the u.s. embassy and chant death to america
forgot what i was rebelling against
gonna read a five volume history of the french revolution instead of looking for a job
what am i doing
i’m a paranoid alcoholic some beautiful mornings
i lay in the sun and laugh at my bank account
my neighbor brings me three peacock feathers and a bag of kratom to thank me for the time i drove him to the hospital after he got drunk and fell down twelve stairs
guy at the gym lifting fifty pound weights has a fifty pound weight tattooed on his bicep
i mumble fuck you to a pile of trash i am trying to sweep up as my co-worker walks past me, and have to explain that i’m not saying fuck you to him, i am just talking to a pile of trash
i briefly convince jenna that mike pence has a tail
a functionally extinct marsupial is trending on twitter
i want a wine-lined bunker deep underground
i am useless and immature, but i like my small joys
Blake Middleton lives in Florida. an actual person in a concrete historical situation is forthcoming from Clash Books, summer 2021. He wrote College Novel (Apocalypse Party). Twitter: @dough_mahoney.