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From section 5, The Justice, of Saltian
Denial
By Alice Shapiro
When one has done most everything
that a childish mind desires–
white-haired and haberdashered
the thread about to unravel
the chink in the champagne glass
about to lengthen
subordinates’ sneers increasing,
attrition in its infancy
is quietly noticed
and pushed down like so much salt
at ocean’s bottom.
Critique: Responsive Writing
Realization
By Maxwell Baumbach
I can’t stand to look at me now
my parents installed an escalator
along the side of my favorite mountain
so that I could reach the heights I dreamed of
yet
still
amazingly
I was too lazy to climb
I never chased anything–
I followed with a brisk mosey at best
the escalator no longer functions
it’s just a set of stairs now
and I have to put in the work to get at the top
but it’s too late
I don’t have it in me anymore to do so
and the reality is I never did
but it had been pushed down like so much salt
at ocean’s bottom that I could do whatever I pleased
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Maxwell Baumbach is a manchild from Elmhurst IL. He is the editor of Heavy Hands Ink. He has authored the chapbooks Suburban Rhythm (Scars Publications, September 2010) and You’re Welcome (Alternating Current, March 2011). His first full-length collection, At Age Twenty, is slated for a January 2012 release from unbound CONTENT. In his spare time, Maxwell enjoys watching unhealthy amounts of Sports Center and sleeping.
