I am just thrilled today to see that The Piker Press featured my prose poem, “Imagine the Moon as Companion,” on the front page of its 19th Anniversary Issue. You can find it right here.
Thanks to Editor Sand Pilarski for allowing my work to appear so prominently in marking the occasion for this outstanding online literary magazine!
I’ve experienced nearly no side effects from the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine … and I’m pleasantly surprised by that. I heard round two could be a tough one — and the first shot left me feeling tired for days.
I got the chills shortly after the shot on Wednesday — it happened almost immediately, when I was on my way home. That was disconcerting.
But after that? Nada. Zilch — except for a sore arm.
“Because everyone deserves a second shot.” Coming soon to a theater near you.
If I understand the science correctly, this makes me immune to criticism. You people make a note of it.
I’m half vaccinated —
but fully caffeinated!
My vax card’s laminated
while my wit is adulated!
My laptop’s activated
with a WIP that’s paginated —
so if you’re not aggravated
by verses fabricated,
I hope you’re acclimated
to being fascinated!
[Insert scratchy turntable here or something]
Look at it. It’s beautiful. It’s glorious. I covet it despite the fact that it’s mine.
It is so precious to me that I’m going to booby-trap my home like an ancient South American temple — lest that sneaky Indiana Jones try and abscond with it. It also explains why I’m running around my home in only a loincloth, shouting a strange language and shooting poison darts at any newcomers.
I’m glad we had this talk.
I’d hate to think of what he hides for the children to find.
As I’ve said before, I’d love to get a picture for you guys, but these guys really stick to the shadows — like stinky ninjas.
They’re definitely a bit LARGER than you might expect — or at least they are around my neighborhood’s woods.
I told my best friend yesterday that there was a boa constrictor loose in my house and she TOTALLY BOUGHT IT. So did her kids.
And last year I had her convinced that a family of raccoons had moved into my closet.
I am the April Fool’s joke MASTER; I should be a supervillain named “April Fool.”
Her, after the reveal: “At this point, I hope you get eaten.”
I habitually break my reading glasses by either stepping or sitting on them. So I stocked up on a bunch of cheap pairs at the start of the Covid pandemic, because I am totally not down with any of that “Time Enough At Last” horseshit.
I even fell into the habit of tossing the broken pairs into the same drawer, in hoarder-like fashion. (Am I supposed to repair them someday, maybe? Glasses repair is not really a thing with me.)
Anyway, that drawer has reached the point where I look like a serial killer who bludgeons nerdy, frugal, fashion-blind men over the head and then takes their glasses as trophies — like some pathetic riff on the alien “Predator” (1987).
I need to leave a note in that drawer to exonerate myself to the police — in case I die in my sleep or something.
I’ll be honest with you — the first shot of the Pfizer vaccine left me feeling tired for about three days. I had low energy and was feeling genuinely sleepy. Yesterday (the fourth day out) was the first day I’ve consistently felt back to normal.
What’s weird is that the fatigue absolutely didn’t set in right away — it took maybe a full 24 hours following the shot Wednesday for me to really feel it. I suppose I should have intuited that most side effects aren’t instantaneous.
Don’t get me wrong, though — I am thrilled that I got the shot, and grateful for the degree of protection that it affords me. A couple of unproductive days are far better than suffering through the worst of a potentially fatal respiratory disease.
