Category: Surreal

I looked out the window…

On By ninarota_4vrelg

i looked out the window
the dog was gone again
the gate left open

i walked round back to make sure.
there, instead of fluffy
was a huge tortoise
large enough for me to sit on

hello, i said
did you see what happened to fluffy?

that mangy dog with the
bejeweled collar you mean?

yeah, that one

we made a trade

a trade?

yeah, kinda like airbnb
she’s gone to my home in the desert
and i’m staying here

okay, well,
what do you eat?

bugs and shit

so i don’t need to feed you?

not unless you want to
i do like a roasted marshmallow now and then

i’ll see what i can do
did fluffy say why she left?

something about leaving the gate open
she felt dissed

dissed?

yeah
unwanted

what!!?

three times the gate was open
each time she came back
and still you tested her
you hurt her feelings
as if three times wasn’t enough

I just wanted to listen…

On By ninarota_4vrelg

i just wanted to listen to my meditation
but icloud kept butting in
what’s the password
tell me the password

i kept dismissing it
until I couldn’t anymore
and then
a screen saver popped up

there are no screen savers on iphones
right?
and then it starting talking

this is your mother speaking

—as if—

i’ve been calling and calling
and you haven’t been answering

oh, how can i help you?

you called me
you asked for a sign and here i am

ah, oye, i asked for oye
the keeper of the cemeteries
and here she is
waiting for my response

yes, yes, I was wondering
could you help me experience
death without dying?

whyyyyy?

fear, fear, I have too much fear
and i can’t sleep at night

have you tried valerian?

yes, yes, everything
but when someone dies
even ambien doesn’t work

well, i can do it
but i can’t guarantee your return
call me back when you
decide

and by the way
you’ve been spelling my name wrong
it’s oyá
and there’s an accent on the a

 

black toast and white tea

On By ninarota_4vrelg

dancing bear plate

black toast and white tea
sat there on a small round plate
with a dancing black bear

above the bear
the sky was night blue
and the stars were yellow
as a flame shot down
and singed the bear’s tail

i was shocked
but not surprised
i’d seen it before

i just didn’t register it

other plates had been
spinning and moving
before my eyes

i hadn’t noticed that either

but when a loud loud bell
rang in my bedroom
in the middle of the night
finally, i sat up

three circles of dancing bears
quiet bears
i’ve never heard a bear talk
have you

the circles finally spun up
and into the sky
then out of sight

a slight presence remained
and i knew it was oye
the protector of cemeteries
the one who receives the bodies

i’d asked her to give me a sign
i’d been calling her for days
because i didn’t believe
and here she was

during the night…

On By ninarota_4vrelg

during the night i sprouted an orange knit cap
which covered my skull and unaccountably
climbed backward then swept upward.

i looked like an ancient Egyptian symbol
or a Doge of the Venetian Empire.

no one noticed and strangely
it carried no weight
but flew up and away
not leaving its perch.

now and then
like my nipple or my small intestine
i thought of it.

i passed by someone closely
we almost touched
and my hat was gone.

i looked back.

the person hatched a chicken foot
on the side of their neck.

i felt lucky for my sculptural orange cap
as though beauty and power
had been bestowed upon me
instead of disability.

at least for the day.