Today, online poetry journal Mad Swirl published my poem “Satisfy the Moonbeams” in their poetry forum. You can read the full piece here.
Lit Rag Roulette
Five asemic writing pieces published at The New Post-literate
The New Post-literate: A Gallery of Asemic Writing is a weblog exploring “asemic writing in relation to post-literate culture.” Scan its entries to find a massive catalog of imaginary scripts and pseudo-writing from around the world. Ultimately, these are scripts or images that look like writing, but have no semantic content. For me, the pieces have the same mysterious pull of looking at lost languages like Linear B, Harappan characters, or Easter Island’s rongorongo script, or even deciphered ones like Ancient Egyptian or Mayan hieroglyphs.
Today, the NP-L published five of my asemic writing pieces, which I made using a brush and India ink back in November 2017. I’m calling them “poems” but they could be prose poems, short stories, or grocery lists. Ultimately, it’s a type of visual poetry. You can check out the pieces here.
“Rabbit Toilet Fantasy” and four other poems published in Ramingo’s Porch
Today, outlaw poetry magazine Ramingo’s Porch published five of my poems: “Rabbit Toilet Fantasy,” “The Desperate Ones,” “Another Hit for History,” “Plastic Surgeon Voyeur,” and “Bag of Bones.” You can read them here.
I didn’t actually intend to get published in this journal so soon after the last time; it’s a happy accident. I thought I was submitting to their special print issue with the the theme “Sex.” So I rounded up the dirtiest pieces I had and sent them in. Turns out that “Sex Issue” was released last month, and its deadline closed last August! It’s available on Amazon.
It may be worth noting that “Rabbit Toilet Fantasy,” partially seen below, is written from the perspective of the trickster rabbit character that showed up in a few poems. “The Desperate Ones” features Casanova as a character.
“It’s a Lapdog Thing” and two other poems published in Ramingo’s Porch
Though it started as a print journal, Ramingo’s Porch recently brought its showcasing of outlaw poetry online. I’m pleased that three of my poems appeared on the Ramingo’s site today: “It’s a Lapdog Thing,” “Maggot Picnic,” and “Ass Dragging on the Main Line.” You can read them here.
“Puppet Master in Polka Dots” published in Ghost City Review
The February issue of Ghost City Review was released today. It includes one of my poems, “Puppet Master in Polka Dots.” You can read it here.
“Deer Stone Magic” published in Futures Trading
The latest issue of online experimental literary journal Futures Trading #6.2 went live yesterday (Jan 6). Another one of those “who’s who” anthologies of the international avant lit underground, this number includes work from Mercedes Lawry, Sanjeev Sethi, Annie Blake, Kyle Hemmings, James Fowler, Stephen Middleton, Mark Young, Christopher Barnes, Joe Balaz, James Kincaid, Glenn Ingersoll, John Marvin, Patrick Theron Erickson, Joel Streicker, Simon Perchik, Donald E. Gasperson, and John Dorroh.
I’m pleased to say one of my poems from the Civilization’s Lost series also made the cut; it’s called “Deer Stone Magic,” revolving around the deer stone pillars of the Mongolian plains. You can read the piece (and the whole issue) here. Be sure to scroll all the way down for the Mad Hatter’s teacup!
“Pussy Pulls the Trigger” published in Danse Macabre
Online literary journal Danse Macabre, “a magazine of the imaginative, the magical, the ethereal, the supernatural, the dark, the absurd, and the unknown,” released Issue 119 “Les Etrennes” today. The works of the authors you see above are joined by one of my Doom Pussy stories. A violent rant from a Kali-like figure at war with mankind, “Pussy Pulls the Trigger” should come with one of those NSFW warnings, as it is intended only for a mature audience with strong constitutions and a taste for extreme, transgressive literature. Anyway, you can read the full text here.
Three Gonch poems published in M58
Online experimental poetry journal M58 published three of my Gonch poems today: “Nonclaganall Anlachan Clach Galachonag,” “Callanach an Lag Ongana,” and “Onla Onla Callanagan Hoggaach.” You can read them here.
These pieces were composed in “Gonch language” with an alphabet restricted to the letters in the nonsense phrase “all gonch.” With the current breakdown in the semantic values of (American) English, a need has arisen for a new language for future communications. Perhaps Gonch will be that language. Perhaps not.
“Donut Economics” and two other poems published in Unlikely Stories
Today online literary journal Unlikely Stories published three of my poems: “Donut Economics,” “Squirrel Tag,” and “Looking Out for Birdman.” You can read them here.
I should note that “donut economics” is actually a thing. I took the title from a book by Kate Raworth that I saw where I work. I didn’t actually read the book, as the title was evocative enough for me. But I probably should read it, as it’s apparently a guide to progressive economics, which is one of my concerns in my work: “In Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth, we see that markets are inefficient and growth is not the holy grail . . . there are hard limits to what you can do to the planet”–taken from the blurb for her TedTalk video on YouTube, which you can watch here.
“Paradise in a Pill” and two other poems, plus five asemic letters in Angry Old Man
Angry Old Man is one of the best online journals out there for experimental words and images. AOM issue #5 was just released, filled with great contributions from the international avant garde poetry scene. I’m pleased that several of my works are included: three text poems from my “robot language” series–“Paradise in a Pill,” “This is What We Know,” and “Your Body Is Waiting”–plus five video stills that represent part of an alien asemic alphabet. You can view the images here, and read the poems here
The texts form part of a new series of experiments inspired by the Facebook AI units that recently developed their own language using English words with different syntax and meaning. The AI units were intended to carry out customer service transactions and negotiations, and the format of their language seems to be a powerful way to confront and manipulate the continuous stream of commercial messages invading our mental space. I’ve written more about this work here.
Each of these three pieces were initiated by phrases contained in spam emails that seemed evocative of something more mysterious or sinister…like something a robot would say when addressing an audience of meatbags.
jeff bagato 