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  • Issue #27 Spring 2024
    • Issue #27 Art Spring 2024 >
      • Kristina Erny Spring 2024
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      • Beth Sherman Spring 2024
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    • Issue #28 Art Fall 2024 >
      • Eric Calloway Fall 2024
      • Matthew Fertel Fall 2024
      • JooLee Kang Fall 2024
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      • Sean Layh Fall 2024
    • Issue #28 Poetry Fall 2024 >
      • Jodi Balas Fall 2024
      • Clayre Benzadón Fall 2024
      • Catherine Broadwall Fall 2024
      • Sara Burge Fall 2024
      • Judith Chalmer Fall 2024
      • Stephanie Choi Fall 2024
      • Sarah Jack Fall 2024
      • Jen Karetnick Fall 2024
      • Ae Hee Lee Fall 2024
      • Svetlana Litvinchuk Fall 2024
      • Mary Lou Buschi Fall 2024
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      • Camille Newsom Fall 2024
      • Elizabeth O'Connell- Thompson Fall 2024
      • Olatunde Osinaike Fall 2024
      • Jessica Pierce Fall 2024
      • Diane Raptosh Fall 2024
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      • Robyn Schelenz Fall 2024
      • Christopher Shipman Fall 2024
      • Alex Tretbar Fall 2024
      • Ruth Williams Fall 2024
      • Shannon K. Winston Fall 2024
      • Wendy Wisner Fall 2024
      • Anne Gerard Fall 2024
    • Issue #28 Fiction Fall 2024 >
      • J​oe Baumann Fall 2024
      • ​Morganne Howell Fall 2024
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      • Ryan Peed Fall 2024
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      • James Sullivan Fall 2024
  • Issue #29 Spring 2025
    • Issue #29 Art Spring 2025 >
      • Irina Greciuhina Spring 2025
      • Jesse Howard Spring 2025
      • Paul Simmons Spring 2025
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      • Elzbieta Zdunek Spring 2025
      • Na Yoon Amelia Cha-Ryu Spring 2025
    • Issue #29 Poetry Spring 2025 >
      • Deborah Bacharach Spring 2025
      • Diego Báez Spring 2025
      • Jaswinder Bolina Spring 2025
      • ​Ash Bowen Spring 2025
      • Christian J. Collier Spring 2025
      • ​Shou Jie Eng Spring 2025
      • Sara Fitzpatrick Spring 2025
      • Matthew Gilbert Spring 2025
      • Tammy C. Greenwood Spring 2025
      • Alejandra Hernández ​Spring 2025
      • Ben Kline ​Spring 2025
      • ​David Moolten Spring 2025
      • ​Tamer Mostafa Spring 2025
      • ​Rongfei Mu Spring 2025
      • Cynthia Neely Spring 2025
      • Pablo Otavalo Spring 2025
      • ​Bleah Patterson Spring 2025
      • ​M.A. Scott Spring 2025
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      • JM Huscher Spring 2025
      • Qurrat ul Ain Raza Abbas Spring 2025

Susan Yount

Catastrophe Theory


It is here that the folding house comes to mind—
the weight too much for the shallow foundation.

The house developed germs: scotch soaked pillowcases,
mold in the toilet, a head-sized hole in the linoleum,
broken television set, cast iron skillets,
wood stove and the bones of a cat.
The tipping point was the father’s behavior.
The house developed disturbances: dehydrated houseplants,
yeast lining the inner walls, blood in the toilet, a knife at the mattress,
sniffing cockroaches on the ceiling, cracked cusp and water filled,
broken dishwasher.

It is here that the function of the house became irregular
the daughter began to break—
the fluctuating heat from the stove set the dwelling to sweat.

The house slumped,
doubled over,
collapsed—
and bore a woman.
​

Practical Geometry

                                          
c² – b² = a²

They told me I didn’t have to come back and they would still count my 30 hours—
They told me that the last thing I will think of won’t be my toenail fungus
but the untouched bed with our separate blankets. They told me none of this.
​
c = the supercritical pitchfork I’m welding or the sledgehammer I’m wielding.
Did I really get that wrong in my last letter? Moving forward, my relationship
is too open. C is the ‘center’ where there is a fist
a great fucking big fist
where I hold your letters.
I keep filing them under propaganda.

b = 15 hours. It could be as practical as that. But time isn’t practical.
Only this fist that is pink inside and no matter how many letters white pages
and I’m trying not to inspire you or lift you from the ditch you have curled
under all those beautiful houses we said we were going to live together
and set fire to instead I have to ask why we’re still friends anyway
it only makes me hate you more.

a = the dark areas the unsettled areas the places where we could never build a bridge
or a house or a fire.


I Worked for a Boss Who Wanted Sex


I had a box knife in my pocket.
I had a tape machine, door card, staple remover.
I had nails that curled under. I had chicken wire in the trunk.
I had dreams we had sex.

I worked for a boss who thought I was smart.

I could use a computer, type, sweep, drink whisky.
I drank black coffee rampantly. I had toenail fungus.
I had bad nail polish. I drank alcohol with coffee.
I had soda sundaes, ran office machines.
I priced all the wheat.

I worked for a boss who thought we were friends.

I had chipped nail polish. I coveted sunglasses.
I suffered from a lack of kindness. I prayed.
I drank beer mostly. I cleaned office buildings.
I cleaned someone’s shit off a toilet lid. 
I stole everything.

I temped for a boss I hated.

I had four hours to call a thousand people.
I tried to be good. I could use a computer.
I drank coffee, talked eagerly. I was smart.
I priced health care, had a tape machine.
I left at lunch on my first day.
 
I worked for a boss who hated me.

I thought he was real cute. I cooked vegetable soup.
I ate grits mostly. I wouldn’t obey nor listen nor whatever.
I wore argyle socks, was good at karaoke.
I slipped on butter, fell real hard. I drank whisky.
I found other jobs.

I worked for a boss who paid me to pose.

I rarely wore clothes. I’d lie like tapestry.
I felt each brush stroke. I was on time. I cried.
I posed for three hours. I wore a scrap of polyester
If I wore anything. I drank cold coffee. I sneezed.
I ran or walked quickly.

I worked for a boss who liked to watch me work.

I’d lift five pound bundles for twelve hours.
I wore very little. It was hot. I talked. I drank.
I set up machines. I felt my bones, everything.
I had never been so broke. I had never been so wrong.
I took speed. I had a pattern.

I worked for a boss who took me to lunch as reward.

I thought. I noticed. I twisted my hair.
I drank cocktails, felt smart, could use tape.
I could pose. I had benefits. I gained ten pounds.
I talked business. I priced services. I had manicures.
I wore black shoes.



​
--
Susan Yount is editor and publisher of the Arsenic Lobster Poetry Journal and madam of the Chicago Poetry Brothel. She is finishing her MFA in poetry at Columbia College Chicago and works fulltime at the Associated Press. Some recent works have appeared in Weave Magazine, Glint Literary, and Anobium Literary Magazine.

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  • Home
  • About
    • Our Story
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  • Features
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  • Previous Issues
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  • Issue #27 Spring 2024
    • Issue #27 Art Spring 2024 >
      • Kristina Erny Spring 2024
      • Luiza Maia Spring 2024
      • Christy Lee Rogers Spring 2024
      • Erika Lynet Salvador Spring 2024
      • Marsha Solomon Spring 2024
    • Issue #27 Poetry Spring 2024 >
      • Terry Belew Spring 2024
      • Dustin Brookshire​ & Diamond Forde Spring 2024 Spring 2024
      • Dustin Brookshire​ & Caridad Moro-Gronlier Spring 2024 Spring 2024
      • Charlie Coleman Spring 2024
      • Isabelle Doyle Spring 2024
      • Reyzl Grace Spring 2024
      • Kelly Gray Spring 2024
      • Meredith Herndon Spring 2024
      • Mina Khan Spring 2024
      • Anoushka Kumar Spring 2024
      • Cate Latimer Spring 2024
      • BEE LB Spring 2024
      • Grace Marie Liu​ Spring 2024
      • Sarah Mills Spring 2024
      • Faisal Mohyuddin 2024
      • Marcus Myers Spring 2024
      • Mike Puican Spring 2024
      • Sarah Sorensen Spring 2024
      • Lynne Thompson Spring 2024
      • Natalie Tombasco Spring 2024
      • Alexandra van de Kamp Spring 2024
      • Donna Vorreyer Spring 2024
    • Fiction #27 Spring 2024 >
      • Bryan Betancur Spring 2024
      • Karen George Spring 2024
      • Raja'a Khalid Spring 2024
      • Riley Manning Spring 2024
      • Adina Polatsek Spring 2024
      • Beth Sherman Spring 2024
    • Nonfiction #27 Spring 2024 >
      • Liza Olson Spring 2024
  • Issue #28 Fall 2024
    • Issue #28 Art Fall 2024 >
      • Eric Calloway Fall 2024
      • Matthew Fertel Fall 2024
      • JooLee Kang Fall 2024
      • Jian Kim Fall 2024
      • Robb Kunz Fall 2024
      • Sean Layh Fall 2024
    • Issue #28 Poetry Fall 2024 >
      • Jodi Balas Fall 2024
      • Clayre Benzadón Fall 2024
      • Catherine Broadwall Fall 2024
      • Sara Burge Fall 2024
      • Judith Chalmer Fall 2024
      • Stephanie Choi Fall 2024
      • Sarah Jack Fall 2024
      • Jen Karetnick Fall 2024
      • Ae Hee Lee Fall 2024
      • Svetlana Litvinchuk Fall 2024
      • Mary Lou Buschi Fall 2024
      • Angie Macri Fall 2024
      • Gary McDowell Fall 2024
      • Sam Moe Fall 2024
      • Camille Newsom Fall 2024
      • Elizabeth O'Connell- Thompson Fall 2024
      • Olatunde Osinaike Fall 2024
      • Jessica Pierce Fall 2024
      • Diane Raptosh Fall 2024
      • Isaac Richards Fall 2024
      • Robyn Schelenz Fall 2024
      • Christopher Shipman Fall 2024
      • Alex Tretbar Fall 2024
      • Ruth Williams Fall 2024
      • Shannon K. Winston Fall 2024
      • Wendy Wisner Fall 2024
      • Anne Gerard Fall 2024
    • Issue #28 Fiction Fall 2024 >
      • J​oe Baumann Fall 2024
      • ​Morganne Howell Fall 2024
      • Matt Paczkowski Fall 2024
      • Ryan Peed Fall 2024
      • Gabriella Pitts Fall 2024
      • James Sullivan Fall 2024
  • Issue #29 Spring 2025
    • Issue #29 Art Spring 2025 >
      • Irina Greciuhina Spring 2025
      • Jesse Howard Spring 2025
      • Paul Simmons Spring 2025
      • Marsha Solomon Spring 2025
      • Elzbieta Zdunek Spring 2025
      • Na Yoon Amelia Cha-Ryu Spring 2025
    • Issue #29 Poetry Spring 2025 >
      • Deborah Bacharach Spring 2025
      • Diego Báez Spring 2025
      • Jaswinder Bolina Spring 2025
      • ​Ash Bowen Spring 2025
      • Christian J. Collier Spring 2025
      • ​Shou Jie Eng Spring 2025
      • Sara Fitzpatrick Spring 2025
      • Matthew Gilbert Spring 2025
      • Tammy C. Greenwood Spring 2025
      • Alejandra Hernández ​Spring 2025
      • Ben Kline ​Spring 2025
      • ​David Moolten Spring 2025
      • ​Tamer Mostafa Spring 2025
      • ​Rongfei Mu Spring 2025
      • Cynthia Neely Spring 2025
      • Pablo Otavalo Spring 2025
      • ​Bleah Patterson Spring 2025
      • ​M.A. Scott Spring 2025
      • ​Liam Strong ​ Spring 2025
      • Alexandra van de Kamp Spring 2025
      • ​Cassandra Whitaker Spring 2025
      • Angelique Zobitz Spring 2025
    • Issue #29 Fiction Spring 2025 >
      • Vanessa Blakeslee Spring 2025
      • K. J. Coyle Spring 2025
      • Meredith MacLeod Davidson Spring 2025
      • Jessica Mosher Spring 2025
    • Issue #29 Nonfiction Spring 2025 >
      • JM Huscher Spring 2025
      • Qurrat ul Ain Raza Abbas Spring 2025