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ISSN: 1941-4137 |
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Volume Two Issue Two |
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Narcissus pseudonarcissus He names his guitar Sophocles and plays it with neoprene gloves, two sizes too large, marker caps glued into the fingers' tips, making ten sharp points, like ten thick picks. Onstage he shakes his hips like a grandfather clock on speed; ribcage out at angles, pointing away from the heart. He plucks, strums, screeches, living to make a noise he calls psychedelic junkie rhythms — as if the word music invites critique. He eyes teenage girls after his shows, takes them to his dressing room — not for sex, but for praise. Validation and masturbation are the only things that get him off. He leaves fresh daffodils by his mirror, lights a candle, then performs a quick set. Waits for the stomp of an encore that never calls. Thinks himself a pretty Iggy Pop, a punk prince, but his talent is just his presence: unflappable ego mistaken for fact. He falls asleep by his pristine mirror, watches his face grow fuzzy until it disappears, keeps it locked in his head, in his dreams. A flower- framed image stamped on a pane of glass. |
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