stephan antoine viau holds an MFA in poetry from Louisiana State University. He lives in Baton Rouge with his family, where he teaches English and Creative Writing.
Artwork by Edward Michael Supranowicz
from “Bloated”
•••
wow!
I’m really connected when I think about it.
the last time was when the house left me.
in a movie theater, I could be afraid.
is being good such a bad thing?
an ode can be to a friend or a past debt.
whatever digs the most at me.
there’s another way to say empty.
•º
$
can an appetite be only a visitor?
I wish I knew all the ways to say mirror.
some say it is a financed sort of is-ness.
how hungry I am.
how womanly!
it is eating the way I do.
straight through the morning, at any moment.
the word explode gets thrown around.
$$$
™
from this end of things, I might look sad.
it grows in the belly and comes outward.
a fascination might be redacted if it has too much is-ness.
like so many things, I didn’t mean to do or have.
so, I’m writing this body issue.
hey, how are you, you over there?
my world is a crumb at the mouth I’m tonguing at.
every body looks so delicious.
×
is a wish a special way of thinking?
I wish everything.
my hand is a touching device I use for keeping to myself.
I wish about the touching, and it comes to me in my dream.
the one where I’m a black t-shirt is an example of less of me.
divide it all up!
call the wishes, let them weep.
I’m touching everything under this t-shirt.
★★★★
⏎
return is a funny way of putting it
could we put it back?
this time, it was is how the whole thing carried on.
it was is and is is.
I remember everything is a was-ness.
in this bedroom, there is a desk and a window.
there is other stuff when I feel up to it.
why is it all so was?
↵
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By In Parentheses in IP Volume 7
32 pages, published 1/15/2022
By In Parentheses in IP Volume 7
32 pages, published 1/15/2022
in parentheses 