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.
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