“Last Lap” by M. Petchprom

Mick Petchprom delivers food and works in a library. Originally from southern California, Mick and his family now live in northern California.

Last Lap

I had a plan, but I never possessed it. I could look
the movie in the eyes and
carry it everywhere, but I would always
be a stranger in this body
of the woods. These ideas weren’t meant to live
in the head, they were meant
to live in the world. I inhaled every blade
of grass that visited me to remember
that the update contained a hint
of a downdate. Beside the rainbow’s shadow
stood a pocket of families. Sure, I rollerbladed
across this country just to avoid
the taps. Don’t assume I’m okay just
because I’m smiling. Reminiscing with you
was easier than moving my own shadow.
I didn’t know that praying was
another way to ask for courage.

From the Editor:

We hope that readers receive In Parentheses as a medium through which the evolution of human thought can be appreciated, nurtured and precipitated. It will present a dynamo of artistic expression, journalism, informal analysis of our daily world, entertainment of ideas considered lofty and criticism of today’s popular culture. The featured content does not follow any specific ideology except for that of intellectual expansion of the masses.

Founded in late 2011, In Parentheses prides itself upon analysis of the current condition of intelligence in the minds of these young people, and building a hypothesis for one looming question: what comes after Post-Modernism?

The idea for this magazine stems from a simple conversation regarding the aforementioned question, which drew out the need to identify our generation’s place in literary history.

To view the types of work we typically publish, preview or purchase our past issues.

Please join our community on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at @inparenth.