Gone Lawn
a journal of literature
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Gone Lawn 29
Summer, 2018

Featured photograph, Levitation 1 by Christopher Woods.

New Works

John Paul Martinez


our living room is broken


it's leaking dandelion heads canadian geese & paint is running all out the sockets Defunct glow-in-the-dark stars mosaic the ceiling & flicker only sometimes depending on how they feel today Are you sure we're in the correct house Do christmas lights surround the windowsill in august If the floor sinks to the cellar at certain corners Welcome This is our home & not the neighbors' whose for sale sign caught on fire last weekend but do not panic This is a good neighborhood The ice cream trucks croon all evening & there are at least two hammocks on every lawn The street is smoothening & the manholes stretch forgivingly Our mailman comes on sundays since they are lost or equitably alone Turn silent or either still There's a showing in five minutes & the house is not yet complete We can spruce up the place by adding multiple variations of desert flora Comb the shag carpeting until it's all flat Feel through the box labeled 'stained glass in different forms' for a lampshade that will impress We'll have to cut our hair to fill the couches then we can order out once the newlyweds are through parading & our agent shakes a hand but our living room is still broken so let's start with that first



alternatives for succulents

here you are a palmful of hummingbirds
frozen peas & metal buttons. it's not much

but there are many. is this ample. or is your stomach
wanting. if further weight has been allotted or elsewhere

mandatory here have this a barnyard furnished
with dried plantains & mango. shall it tide you over

when the world inverts & sets in motion other
means of depletion. if still you don't feel heavy here

hold this a lunch bag ballooned with orchid seeds
& bamboo cuttings. stipple both on quiet ground. monitor

for petals & wait for wilting. we can add those in. ignore
for now other plantings should they remain latent. maintain

gregariously for secondary growth. does this suffice. or does
your mouth still water. if the plot has become overpopulated

by common lawn weeds here take this a tincture of pocket lint
& liquid capsules. take them all at once for maximum effect.

you should feel warm now. or are your arms still pining. if instead malfunctions
sprout there's little left for substitution so here use this a stockpile

of penultimate nesting dolls amassed since may. saturate each
with rutted memories. float them in an ocean then stand wary for

any which return. are you sleepy yet or gone. have I spoke too much
or soon. can you finish these portions inside one sitting. if so then here

sundry propagations wanting rare or careful watering. we can overfeed ourselves
until we ourselves feel full



John Paul Martinez is a Filipino-Canadian poet writing out of Wisconsin. He holds a B.A. in Linguistics from the University of Wisconsin—Madison. His work has appeared in 100 Word Story.