by Colin Keating
1
I’m in imminent danger of getting Way Too Psyched.
I’ll try to end this song sweetly but no promises.
My back hurts and my neck is a cubicle.
The airtight compartment of my life
is collapsing into a traffic cone,
a backwash attendant,
your own megaphone…
But!
All my fucking quilting material is here,
all my teas and spices,
all my fabrics…
…fuck yeah.
2
Did you know the eternal jazz guitarist
circle jerk awaits all those truly ready
to party and party hard?
A white cat followed me home for three blocks,
that was a party,
and making out next to a Suburban, party,
all my homies wasted and we’re roasting each other,
big ass party,
a party where you, like,
get so high and say something like
“Fuck, I’m a jazz guitarist stuck in a classical guitarist’s body stuck in the cellular
structure of the last Victoria’s Secret catalog ever made stuck on a garbage barge and I’m
just FLOATING out there”
in an Australian accent? That,
my dude,
is a party.
3
Okay, so:
what is a party
what are we doing here exactly
what the fuck is going on here exactly
?
To disobey is no sin but a forgiveness.
Who wants doubt when there’s freedom?
Is doubt what you call faith?
Because your hushed prayers
and dirty towels rise up to heaven too,
asshole.
I’m so fucking serious.
I’m seriously fucking serious,
guys.
True story: we had some real talk then?
no problem man crushed an 18 rack on
the way to the club bro we’re just getting started dude these chicks are—
— I am jackhammer
I am bull
I am hammer
I am sword
I am rocket
I am rocket
I am rocket
I am sky I am earth
tell them please I am earth
4
I am death.
I am Lowe’s Twitter war with Home Depot.
I let capitalism fill me with golden light
then wait for the woman with
the red mouth
can’t bend sound
swallow of words
from the ground
the Anti Christ bit
we all knew that,
rosy-red cheeks,
two-bit flat…
5
I see your hourglass in the sand, it is a trite metaphor for loneliness
and I know you can do better if you just apply yourself.
Our house was kinda like Podcast City,
a whole house of talking men,
men that talk! All saying
go to sleep already
and I’m like
Macbeth,
MacBook,
get it?
fuck yourself
And Millions
by Rachel Berkowitz
Colin Keating is a writer, musician, and artist from Portland, OR. He released his first poetry collection Dog Tao in 2021 and is working on a second collection. He likes gyros, bad punk music, and sentences that make you want to throw the book across the room.
Rachel Berkowitz (b. 1993) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Born in Columbus, Ohio, and raised in London, Rachel Berkowitz graduated with a BA in Fine Arts from the UCLA School of Art and Architecture in 2016. Rachel is currently working on paintings for a solo exhibition February 2023 , called “Biophilic Harmonies”. The work brings attention to the innate human desire to be close to natural elements within everyday life.Rachel has self-published three complete Fine Art photography books. One of her most popular series titled “Fairfax Royalty” was displayed at a booth for Gallery 1202 in The LA Art Show, 2020.
Ignatian Literary Magazine 