R L Swihart


Settling in for the Night

Her mother wanted the traditional carp for Christmas
(I can still see them swimming in the bathtub),
her sister (in Germany) wanted shrimp

The world was changing but what did that mean

She once looked up to John Paul

Why can’t we help the women in Iran

It’s religion, it’s religion that’s bad, she says

But religion is only a word, I say. Isn’t the church
invisible

More and more so, it would seem, she says

Then she settles into her soporific: The Great British
Baking Show. (Janusz will finally get 
dropped)

I settle in for the night (in bed) and reread a few pages
from a Solstad novel beginning with
Xmas

A swarm of black flies (irregular bits emerging from
the surrounding black and disappearing through
a gray hole) when I finally close
my eyes 



Jousting with G

He sends an owl pic (sign-as-perch, distant lights blaring 
through fog) from Bolsa Chica

I respond with two autumn landscapes from Green Valley Lake 
(Elev. 7000') and some gibberish about CDF's 
Wanderer

The absurd banter begins:

G: Don't go S in the Anthropocene on me now

Me: Holocene (Frisch in Berzona) vs Anthropocene (epoch in which 
the shit in our nest is exponentially piling up)

G: Wasn't Mt Arvin your childhood mountain? Aren't you beyond 
your ken?

Me: I'm not a yooper, but you could say I'm a troll: I grew up 
under the bridge

Then I drop some quotes from Khodasevich's Necropolis 
to quell the noise

E.g.,

Pardon my digression, Vladislav Felitsianovich. Perhaps I am talking 
dreadful nonsense. It is all because I hate this accursed modernity 
that has ruined our fairy tale; and without fairy tales, how are we 
to live upon this earth?…



CARBZ

Carbonara = Spaghetti with eggs (serves two):

Ingredients: 

Spaghetti (thin but not too thin is Z’s preference –
about half a 16 oz box)

Four egg yolks (large)

Freshly grated parmesan (don’t use the Kraft stuff, it won’t
work – grated is better than “flakes”)

Peas (frozen – half a bag or less “in the mix,” but individuals,
me for example, may wish to add more on top)

Pancetta (usually comes in a 4 oz package – use it all or,
if you like, substitute bacon, but make sure to cut
it up into small cubes before frying)

Heavy whipping cream (⅓ cup – but it’s OK to use regular
whipping cream or half & half instead)

*

Process: very important. Watch the video via Vimeo link.
Password is CARBZ

I was the director (first time) and I made some mistakes. I thought 
slowing it down would be a good thing. Wrong. Her initial wave 
and Hi, though reminiscent of Childs (if only to me), are a bit 
spooky. Plus I stopped it every time I wanted to “cut” the action 
(I should’ve pressed “pause”), which meant I needed to download
an app to sew the pieces together

R L Swihart was born in Michigan but now resides in Long Beach CA. His work has sparsely dotted both the Net and hardcopy literary journals (Cordite, Pif Magazine, The Literary Bohemian, Offcourse, Otoliths, Denver Quarterly, Quadrant Magazine, The Bookends Review). His third book of poetry was released July 2020: Woodhenge.

 
 

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