AmLit Fall 2021

Page 84

American Literary Magazine

I Love Long Titles But I Can Never Be Clever, So Here It Is You Bastards Ray Koffink Artist Statement: Inspired by Neil Hilborn as a general muse and references Adam Falkner’s two poems, “Fishing the Little Pigeon” and “I Was Into Fishing and He Was Into Me”

I feel like Neil Hilborn every time I swear in poems. Except with less of a beard and and more like peach pits for eyes. with strained orange pulp words as in I too am the ghost of something good. My mother said as a toddler I spoke to her dead father often on my toy box, to wag chins like that chariot song low and sweet, long and meeting me at home because that was always there: headless summers like unkempt hair. spent curled inside and my mind lost to childhood wanders and wonders - I’ve always talked to myself playing saxophone to strawberry knee sunsets because even then I was a bit fruity.

Falling from roller blade curbs and failed skateboard ollies off granite corner boys so maybe I am Adam Falkner too. Because the center of this lake always felt too deep, and now, I have lost too many fishing poles to find my own words to say “I love you” and still, here I am, saying to him talking to myself, dead like the ghost of someone good, “Who am I now?”

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the effects of distance: a series of love letters — Sydney Muench

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Not a Nightmare — Kaitlyn Newport

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manic pixie nightmare — Olivia Wenke

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The People in That Car Must Be Dead — Max Robins

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Mother — Gracie Donovan

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I Love Long Titles But I Can Never Be Clever So, Here It Is You Bastards — Ray Koffink

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Shadow Puppet — Ashley Hocking

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First Supper — Vishwa Bhatt

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February, 2009 — Gracie Donovan

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Zeyde’s Big Day — Max Robins

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Beautiful Things — Annie Przypyszny

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the green interlude — McKenna Casey

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Dollar Value — Abby Grifno

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milk carton portrait — Alexia Partouche

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How Do I Tell You — Rhys Allison

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Dog World — Hope Neyer

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White Dust — Natalie Flynn

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perfect places — Trevor Luciani

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Dreaming of a Spanish Morning — Lindsey McCormack

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Mango Juice — Maite Ramos

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if you’re reading this i’m alive — McKenna Casey

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Untitled — Noah Fischer

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Ghost Story — Vishwa Bhatt

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Finding — Ashley Hocking

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Cicadas Hum Psalms — Annika Rennaker

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Call Me Shallow — Liah Argiropoulos

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And So I Do, And So I Do — Ray Koffink

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bittersweet — McKenna Casey

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On a Hill in Vermont — Lindsey McCormack

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Tongue Twister — Jamie Klinger

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I’m Thinking — Annie Przypyszny

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Skeletal Remains — Hannah Sjovold

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Ode to the Closet — Jamie Klinger

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At the Wild Reef Exhibit — Annie Przypyszny

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A Premonition of Philophobia — Callie Lau

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Sapphic x3 — Gracie Donovan

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