The Free Renbun Thread ***READ RULES**

[Clayton Beach]

After we all decided to meet in The Swan. The Swan, or Swany as it is locally referred to, is a small family run pub. When I got there John and Margaret were already sat down with drinks. John was always super friendly and insisted on buying me a drink. I wasn't sure what to have so I told him to order whatever he was drinking. I sat down beside Margaret. I smiled and nodded my head in a manner that was equally polite and shy. John brought the drink from the bar. I thanked him. We made small talk. I offered cigarettes to John and Margaret. They both took one. Margaret produced a lighter and we all lit our cigarettes. I gently rested my hand on the table and it crumbled and collapsed. It was rotten. From the debris maggots and other small invertebrates wriggled and mixed with the spilled drinks and glass. Underneath the mess was a giant anthill. I looked at John and Margaret. They turned away from me and the anthill.

on a dim stage
the chanteuse begins to sing
blue velvet

[Michael]

on a dim stage
the chanteuse begins to sing
blue velvet

It's lucky I went that way he wrote on the piece of paper. He looked up and felt stupid. Who looks up after writing such an inane sentence he asked himself. Beneath the previous sentence he thought of writing something clever. He wanted to write something clever. Nothing came. Just grocery items and memes he saw on the internet. He heard a car pass outside. He decided to write that down. He imagined the colour of the car. He imagined the people and their lives. He thought of the metal the car is made of and where exactly that could have been mined. Those big mines in some far off country. He thought of how the air might smell in such a place. And what season it was when the metal was extracted and saw daylight for the first time. A big slab of metal looking at flowers for the first time. A big slab of metal falling in love.

[Ray Caligiuri]

It's lucky I went that way he wrote on the piece of paper. He looked up and felt stupid. Who looks up after writing such an inane sentence he asked himself. Beneath the previous sentence he thought of writing something clever. He wanted to write something clever. Nothing came. Just grocery items and memes he saw on the internet. He heard a car pass outside. He decided to write that down. He imagined the colour of the car. He imagined the people and their lives. He thought of the metal the car is made of and where exactly that could have been mined. Those big mines in some far off country. He thought of how the air might smell in such a place. And what season it was when the metal was extracted and saw daylight for the first time. A big slab of metal looking at flowers for the first time. A big slab of metal falling in love.

over the tower
a black dawn
dissolves the sun

[Michael]

over the tower
a black dawn
dissolves the sun

What is that? You notice a black spot on your shoulder. Just in view if you scrunch and contort in just the right way. You pick up your phone. You think of googling skin diseases for a moment but decide to call the doctor. The doctor's surgery is closed to non emergency cases, says the receptionist. You go back into the bathroom and contort in just the right way and start prodding the dark mass. To your horror it starts to expand. First the size of a violet. Another obsessive prod. Then the size of Pangaea. At this point the prodding is no longer necessary as the mass starts to move and grow by itself. You stand frozen in horror as it moves over your body growing and shrinking. Your face masked for a moment and then your chest. You watch. And then it starts to peel itself off. Jiggling on the bathroom tiles. What do you want? you ask. The mass gurgles and starts to talk.

[Ray Caligiuri]

What is that? You notice a black spot on your shoulder. Just in view if you scrunch and contort in just the right way. You pick up your phone. You think of googling skin diseases for a moment but decide to call the doctor. The doctor's surgery is closed to non emergency cases, says the receptionist. You go back into the bathroom and contort in just the right way and start prodding the dark mass. To your horror it starts to expand. First the size of a violet. Another obsessive prod. Then the size of Pangaea. At this point the prodding is no longer necessary as the mass starts to move and grow by itself. You stand frozen in horror as it moves over your body growing and shrinking. Your face masked for a moment and then your chest. You watch. And then it starts to peel itself off. Jiggling on the bathroom tiles. What do you want? you ask. The mass gurgles and starts to talk.

from moth mouths
the lightness of being
eternally bound

[Michael]

from moth mouths
the lightness of being
eternally bound

Wound with dust you sit. The Lazy boy you inherited from your father. Your gut you also inherited from your father is there too. A spring day announces itself from an open window. You think of lighting a cigar - one of those cheap ones - but decide you are hungry.
'Hey gut?'
'What?'
'You hungry?'
'Yeah.'
'What you wanna eat?'
'couscous'
'Ok. Let me watch the 4th inning and I'll get to it.'
Your gut sits patiently for the first two outs but then grows inpatient and starts playing solitaire with a deck of nude novelty cards.

[Clayton Beach]

Wound with dust you sit. The Lazy boy you inherited from your father. Your gut you also inherited from your father is there too. A spring day announces itself from an open window. You think of lighting a cigar - one of those cheap ones - but decide you are hungry.
'Hey gut?'
'What?'
'You hungry?'
'Yeah.'
'What you wanna eat?'
'couscous'
'Ok. Let me watch the 4th inning and I'll get to it.'
Your gut sits patiently for the first two outs but then grows impatient and starts playing solitaire with a deck of nude novelty cards.

calling his bluff
one suicide king short
of a straight flush

[Ray Caligiuri]

calling his bluff
one suicide king short
of a straight flush

At any other time it wouldn’t matter. Sam dropped the cigarette stub into the gutter then turned to face the casino entrance. His luck would change now, he could feel it. He was bound to get a good hand. As he re-entered, a bouncer dressed in ancient Pharaonic garb grabbed his right hand, splayed it on a table, and cut off Sam’s pinky finger. The bouncer threw him a towel and growled, “We told you last time what would happen if you continued counting cards at The Egyptian”.

[Michael]

At any other time it wouldn’t matter. Sam dropped the cigarette stub into the gutter then turned to face the casino entrance. His luck would change now, he could feel it. He was bound to get a good hand. As he re-entered, a bouncer dressed in ancient Pharaonic garb grabbed his right hand, splayed it on a table, and cut off Sam’s pinky finger. The bouncer threw him a towel and growled, “We told you last time what would happen if you continued counting cards at The Egyptian”.

deepening spring
in the back seat with fish
he learns his fate

[Hansha Teki]

deepening spring
in the back seat with fish
he learns his fate

Unvaccinated, a bat rages against the echolocated elephant in the pen.

[Clayton Beach]

Unvaccinated, a bat rages against the echolocated elephant in the pen.

the chipped ivory
of an old Steinway
gathers dust

[Hansha Teki]

the chipped ivory
of an old Steinway
gathers dust

Black and comely is the Shulammite on whom the sun has gazed. Her voice sounds in my ears as sweet as honey from the rock.

[Michael]

Black and comely is the Shulammite on whom the sun has gazed. Her voice sounds in my ears as sweet as honey from the rock.

interlude
between your teeth
the taste of nothing

[Ray Caligiuri]

interlude
between your teeth
the taste of nothing

I wake with a start to feel the grind of marbles in my mouth then I wake with a start to see the sun’s corona kill the lilies of the field then I start the wake.

[Hansha Teki]

I wake with a start to feel the grind of marbles in my mouth then I wake with a start to see the sun’s corona kill the lilies of the field then I start the wake.

polar shift
red ochre and charcoal
save the day