The Free Renbun Thread ***READ RULES**

[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

[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”.

[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

[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.

[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]

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]

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]

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.

[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]

a curl of smoke
the old will
signed in blood

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.

[Ray Caligiuri]

In the fading light the stale air of the room grows thick and inky. A painting of Elvis on rich velvet hangs over the dusty piano, surveying the cluttered room with a languid, sultry air of disdain. A teacup chihuahua dog whines and scratches at the window, her owner slumped over silently in the rocking chair, a few flies gathering at the corner of his glassy eyes.

a curl of smoke
the old will
signed in blood

[Clayton Beach]

sunset over the desert
the purple
of a phoenix suns jersey

In the fading light the stale air of the room grows thick and inky. A painting of Elvis on rich velvet hangs over the dusty piano, surveying the cluttered room with a languid, sultry air of disdain. A teacup chihuahua dog whines and scratches at the window, her owner slumped over silently in the rocking chair, a few flies gathering at the corner of his glassy eyes.

[Michael]

The desert at dusk always bothers me. Something about the elongating shadows of cactus beckon me but not in a good way. Out of gas the car slows to a stop and I get out into an East wind blast furnace. I told her and told her just to take the normal precautions, but it was always all or nothing. I miss that now. Brave or foolhardy? Oh well, maybe another car will come along and I can hitch a ride to Las Vegas, but it no longer matters.

sunset over the desert
the purple
of a phoenix suns jersey

[Ray Caligiuri]

bat country--
something crawls from the shimmer
on the highway out of Bartstow

The desert at dusk always bothers me. Something about the elongating shadows of cactus beckon me but not in a good way. Out of gas the car slows to a stop and I get out into an East wind blast furnace. I told her and told her just to take the normal precautions, but it was always all or nothing. I miss that now. Brave or foolhardy? Oh well, maybe another car will come along and I can hitch a ride to Las Vegas, but it no longer matters.

[Clayton Beach]

We took a wrong turn somewhere. Just before the border, perhaps? Carl sits silently. Worry wears his face. He reminds me of a stone. What is he worried about, actually? The ants have been at the dead for days. That will do it. That kind of things puts years on a man. I told him not to put processed cheese on the corpses eyes but listening has never been his strong suit.

bat country--
something crawls from the shimmer
on the highway out of Bartstow