THE WORD IS VINES
rainwater drips from the ceiling on the third level rainwater drips from the ceiling it keeps the vines alive on the third level vines grow in waves on the third level there are only vines there are no hands there is no holding only vines there are only vines there are no hands there are no hands there is no holding there are no hands down the escalators there are no hands down the escalators in this mall there are no hands on the third level only vines there are only vines rainwater drips from the ceiling rainwater pools in a defunct fountain on the third level rainwater pools in a defunct fountain there is not a single penny among the vines there are no hands there is no wishing in this mall there is no one wishing in this mall only vines there is not a single penny among the vines there are no hands there is no wishing in this mall there is no one wishing in this mall there are no hands there are no hands down the escalators there are no hands down the escalators in this mall only vines rainwater drips from the ceiling it keeps the vines alive and the vines only
THE WORD IS WISHING WELL
there is no one wishing well at the center of the mall no wishing well no one well there is no one wishing well at the center of the mall well, there is no one shopping there is no one shopping well at the center of the mall no, there is no one shopping there is no one shopping well at the center of the mall there is no one there is no one well at the center of the mall no wishing well no one well there is no one wishing well at the center of the mall
THE WORD IS MALL
there is no crowd there is no cluster but there are planters and there are plants there are planters and there are plants but there is no crowd there is no cluster there is no crowd or cluster in this mall there is no cluster in this holding in the mall there is no cluster in this holding in the mall there is no holding in this mall there is no holding in this mall there is nothing holding in this mall no hands engorged with bags no gorgeous bags engorged with bags there are no hands there is no holding in this mall there are no hands there is no holding in this mall no hands engorged with bags not in the holding not in the mall no hands engorged with bags there is no holding in this mall no gorge eyes I use to tell this mall no eyes I use to tell this I do not need to use to tell I do not need to use to tell I do not need to use (but it is no use) I do not need to use (but it is no use) there is no holding in this mall ears enough hears enough enough enough there is only just enough enough (just enough) there is just enough to never see in this mall (just enough) enough enough there is no holding in this mall
THE WORD IS DYING
there is a palm tree in this mall the palm tree weeps and yellows in this mall the palm tree is dying I do not need to feel to know the palm tree is dying the palm tree is dying the palm tree resembles a haystack in this mall a bench in the atrium is empty in this mall a bench in the atrium is for people and for sitting but there are no people in this mall a bench in the atrium is empty in this mall the palm tree weeps and yellows in this mall there is a bench in the atrium that is slowly filling there is a bench that is full of palm tree in this mall the bench is a haystack now and the palm tree is dying I do not need to feel to know the palm tree is dying the palm tree is dying there is no crowd there is no cluster but there are haystacks and there are benches that resemble haystacks there are haystacks and there are no palm trees in this mall there is no crowd there is no cluster there is no crowd or cluster in this mall there is no palm tree in this mall only haystacks there is no dying palm tree in this mall only haystacks there is no palm tree in this mall I do not need to feel to know there is no palm tree in this mall there is no palm tree in this mall
Paul Cunningham lives in Athens, Georgia where he co-curates the Yumfactory Reading Series with Nathan Dixon. He is the translator of Sara Tuss Efrik’s Automanias (Goodmorning Menagerie, 2016) and The Night’s Belly (Toad Press, 2016). Excerpts from his translation of Helena Österlund’s Words and Colors have recently appeared in EuropeNow and Asymptote. His own writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Quarterly West, Ghost Proposal, 7×7.la, Spoon River Poetry Review, OmniVerse, SleazeMag, and others. He is the managing editor of Deluge and co-managing editor of Radioactive Cloud. He holds a MFA in Poetry from the University of Notre Dame.
