A bunch of literary "rebels" at the college I previously attended (William & Mary, for those who must know) put out an "underground" literary magazine of sorts. It's very interesting, to say the least. Today, I picked up an issue that included the following poem, which I thought was simply brilliant in its simplicity and surprise. It's written by "kt bentley" (no idea if the all-lowercase letters are part of the design, or a nod towards, e.g., e.e. cummings). Here's the poem, in its entirety:


one day I wondered
If I could go the whole day
Without saying anything.
I could be silent in classes,
Just take notes and stare at slides-
Who would notice?
I could just walk from class to class,
Place to place, wherever the hell I had to go-
No one would notice.
I could be silent for a day,
My vocal chords would never vibrate,
Or tingle or stretch or whatever they do
And for a day I would be completely invisible.
Could I do it? I wondered.
I thought I could.
Then I remembered-
I could never do that.
I'm too fucking awesome.

Haha, that's brilliant. Post more!

Nice ending. :P

OT: I was thinking of applying to W&M, but I changed my mind after I saw how hard it was to get in. Did you transfer out because you didn't like it there?

No... I was a computer science grad student, but I left because I hated it -- computer science, I mean. The school itself is pretty awesome, though.

literary "rebels" is right.
"underground," yeah.
they need to read some burroughs & shut the f*ck up; a whole day of silence wouldn't be quite enough to detox me from their "awesomeness."

Tell me, if the writers of the magazine were gratuitously covered in fake blood when they wrote their pieces, would you feel differently?

I've so tried that before.
Good poem though. haha

bad writing is bad writing is, etc.

One time i didnt talk for a week.

Very true. But you didn't comment merely on the poem; you implied that the whole magazine was trash. Yet you've read only merely a sampling; I didn't even post the name of the magazine, let alone a link to its online content (and I couldn't have -- I don't know if the magazine even has a website), so you can't really make a comment about the content of the publication. Yet you clearly did, since you used plural pronouns in reference to the work.

To comment on pieces that you haven't even read is a bit narrow-minded, is it not?

Furthermore, aside from a few puerile insults, you haven't actually discussed why you think it's bad. The poem is by no means amazing, but I did find that the conclusion did bring a grin to my face with its...less than usual ending. Feel free to disagree, but discussion is generally more enlightening if you defend your opinions and reactions.

i was merely commenting on the poem. if there was any intended implication... it was that it would be odd to find such a piece in any sort of "respectable" publication. nonetheless, i meant only to say something of the poem itself. i can't be sure of the quality of the rest of the works... but if this single piece is any sign...



you're screaming @ the choir here. i don't really care to analyze anything so ineffectual... but, its use of language is uninspired. there is a complete lack of colorful or abstract description, albeit an odd metaphor of invisibility (which seems incoherent, & unintentionally so). its focus on a school environment is thoughtless & boring. its stream of consciousness is amateur, cliche'd, & poorly executed. its start is false, & its progression aimless. its revelation is bombastic & childish... but not nearly in any sort of charming or genuine sense. it's just extremely unspectacular - it really is of no interest whatsoever...

maybe its some sort of subversion of narrative structure... or, it's s--- no, it just sort of sucks. i would be embarrassed to have that in a zine of my own.