The Second Hand
Once upon a time, there was a boy who had no hands. There was a family (his own family), then, poof, they too were gone. Around that time it was fashionable to wear giant calculators around one’s neck. Citizens quickly became restless with the old trends. Next thing you knew, giant calculators were worn as oversized watches. That’s how fashion goes, you know? They say it’s all about Time and Space, these days, at least that’s what the people go for these days. Nearly everything is digitalized, even sight. And, let me state, this was also around the time that the boy said, “I’ve lost all ability to judge colors.”
Exit Strategy
With sky spent grey, wind shatters, sand swirls— foam sprays from the crest of a troubled wave. On the beach, dogs chase after each other, a kite whistles rape, and a boy is crying because the adults are stomping his sandcastle, whooping loons. Somewhere deep in the reeds a baby screams, piercing nature.
Zachary C. Bush is an instructor of English Literature and Composition. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the City College of New York (CCNY). In the Spring of 2011, Bush will enter the Doctor of Arts & Letters program at Drew University. Bush is the author of three collections of poetry: Angles of Disorder (BlazeVOX books: 2009), At Swan Decapitation (VOX Press: 2010), and The Silence of Sickness (Gold Wake Press: 2010), as well as several smaller chapbook collections. He is currently at work on his fourth full-length collection (of prose poetry), A Screaming Man is Not a Dancing Bear (BlazeVOX books, TBA). Bush and his girlfriend live just outside of New York.
Steel Toe Review 