Defenestration: February 2009

Welcome back. The February 2009 issue of Defenestration has arrived!
February is that sad time of the year when all the snowmen we hired back in December go back to their temp agency. Many of them lost weight in the past couple of months. Some of them left a little yellower than the day they came [...]

“A Very Boring Middle Finger,” by Ricki Hunsinger

I am startled
by a blaring honk
And I see-
a middle finger
spring up before me.
It made me want to
act on nothing.
It was the most boring middle finger
I have ever seen;
lacking in all passion and artistry.
(a Monster truck on valium.)
No more incredible
than a blade of grass
lifting back up
after being brushed down.
I am disappointingly unmoved,
like the night I walked [...]

“Poem for a Reputable Lit Mag,” by Megan Roth

A thin letter from the Likely Review sits in my mailbox.
I will use my scythe to exhume the letter from its holder.

In the mailbox, the envelope dozes atop a coupon
From Bed Bath and Beyond, a material image of sorts.

Above, the clouds are clouding around me.
This draws up existential questions, and

The smell of my mother’s lemon [...]

“A Rose Is,” by Li Min Hua

No, Sister Gertie,
A rose is a
flower is a
resurrection is an
erection is a
momento is an Is.
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Li Min Hua is the author of 1,918 published poems and essays. He has edited special issues of College English and Margins. He has written three poetry volumes Sunspots (Lotus Press, Detroit, 1976) Midnight Lessons (Samisdat, 1987), and Lutibelle’s Pew (Dragon [...]

“Today’s the Day,” by Andrew Porterfield

Radiant sunshine bursts through the living room window with enthusiasm and the birds perched on the blossoming trees outside chirp a cheery tune.   Dolly Parton is on VH1 singing, “Better Get to Livin’” and there I am lying on the floor, after choking on the first bite of my bagel, dead.   Clichéd and ironic, don’t [...]

“There’s No God in America,” by CJ Hallman

When we bitch and moan, Coach always goes, “There’s no ‘I’ in Team, and there’s no ‘God’ in America.”
Then he makes us run laps.
My parents tried to get me into the Catholic school; I passed the entrance exam and wrote an essay entitled, “My Relationship with Jesus” and everything but then they got divorced and [...]

“Rosas,” by Francisco Nieto Salazar

Right at the end of the nineteenth century, when many people were holding their breath and acting more piously than usual (just in case God decided to end the world), a lowly young soldado near the Presidio of Santa Barbara was caught by two Indian women while he preformed a horrendous carnal act. His name [...]

“C.L.S.H.P.S.S.L.”, by Andrei Trostel

Recently I ranted about Starbucks discontinuing almond syrup but keeping a surreal flavor called “Classic” readily available. I complained about them ceasing to serve breakfast sandwiches but keeping their store well stocked with copies of Cranium and baskets of stuffed bears. What I didn’t realize was that Starbucks was obviously making way for something much [...]

“The Persistence of Memory,” by Adrian Siordia and Andrew Kaye

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Adrian Siordia is far too clever for his own good.
Andrew Kaye is not quite as clever as Adrian.

“Not The Shark,” by Trebor Nehoc

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Bob Cohen (aka Trebor Nehoc) is a writer living in NYC. His latest book is Scurvy Dogs, Green Water & Gunsmoke: Fifty Years in US Navy Destroyers (Oak Tree, 2008).