Does it bother you I am happy?

WOULD YOU BY SUSAN WHITMORE 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 31

Does it bother you I am happy? Would you love me more if I liked your mother, If I reminded you of your mother, if I didn’t? Would you love me more if I made you feel guilty?

Tom is trapped in his body.

PAPERS BY PHYLLIS VAN SLYCK 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 31

Tom tries to write papers these days. He’s been working on one about Albrecht Durer for a few years now but it seems from my perspective to be a kind of circular activity, a polite way of saying he is repeating himself, not really moving forward. 

Socks are a plague upon the house.

HILLBILLY HONK-HONK BY ERIC BARNES 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 31

Socks are a plague upon the house. No one item is more frequently left out on the floor, none more widely discarded in locations all across our home, than socks. Peeled off, slipped out of, dropped in place, flung across the room, left alone, left out, put down, balled up, draped along the armrest of a chair.

THE START OF SOMETHING BY DIGBY BEAUMONT 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 31

The human condition. What are you going to do?