Crux Desperationis 11 by CRUX DESPERATIONIS

conceptual writing / escritura conceptual / scrittura concettuale INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL

Crux Desperationis 11 - december 2018

director Riccardo Boglione editorial staff RB, Georgina Torello journal header Paolo Argeri journal design Massimo Alacca Images taken from Emile-Bayard, Les Arts de la Femme, Paris, Librairie Ch. Delagrave, 1904 (after Boutet de Monvel)

cc by-nc-nd gegen, Montevideo 2018 gegen.mvd@gmail.com

DIVYA VICTOR

Croniamantal

AURÃ&#x2030;LIE NOURY

Cinque autoritratti

MICHELE GRANZOTTO

ELISABETH TONNARD Song of Myself (excerpt):

Edgar Allan Poe likes his own link.

Emily Dickinson updated their cover photo.

Ralph Waldo Emerson shared Walt Whitmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s post.

Henry David Thoreau added a new photo to the album: Walden; or, Life in the Woods.

I would prefer no to

“I would prefer not to” (Being all the sentences containing the text “I would prefer not to” in Bartleby, the Scrivener, A Story of Wall Street, by Herman Melville, arranged in chronological order.)

***

But in quite as clear a one came the previous reply, “I would prefer not to.” “I would prefer not to,” said he. “I would prefer not to,” he said, and gently disappeared behind the screen. “I would prefer not to.” “I would prefer not to.” “I would prefer not to.” “I would prefer not to.” “I would prefer not to.” “At present I would prefer not to be a little reasonable,” was his mildly cadaverous reply. “No; I would prefer not to make any change.” “I would prefer not to take a clerkship,” he rejoined, as if to settle that little item at once. “No: at present I would prefer not to make any change at all.”

SIMON BROWN

RICHARD KOSTELANETZ

Works I wish were made by me (excerpt): PREFACE I initially thought of adding tags explaining why each of these lumi- nous monuments has been so important for me, each of them weighty enough to merit its own page; but then I decided to leave enough blank space for readers to inscribe their own comments that they are wel- come, if they wish, to send to me for possible further use, thanks. Less interested in defining a canon than recording my own great enthusiasms, may I hope that each new entry comes to the reader as a surprise. Richard Kostelanetz, FarEast BushWick, NY, 14 May 2017

Miguel De Cervantes Don Quixote

Jorge Luis Borges Collected Stories

Ramón Gómez de la Serna Greguerías

Frank Lloyd Wright Guggenheim Museum

Ambrose Bierce A Devilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dictionary

Simon Rodia The Watts Towers

Jean Paul Sartre The Wall

Emma Goldman My Disillusionment With Russia

James Joyce Finnegans Wake

Ralph Ellison Invisible Man

W. A. Mozart Requiem

L. Moholy-Nagy Vision in Motion

Sites of Contemporary Meat (excerpt) [name redacted] was born and raised in beautiful New Hampshire, but now spends her days in sunny Santa Monica, California. She recently completed her master's degree in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University and is pursuing her goal of becoming a professor. [name redacted] lives next to a dusty cactus in Tucson, Arizona. He writes mostly poetry and nonfiction. Recent publications can be found in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. Say hello at [website redacted]. [name redacted] recently left teaching to write full-time. You can find her work in [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted], as well as online at [website redacted]. [name redacted] was born and raised in Tampa, Florida. She graduated from the University of Nebraska, earning an MFA in poetry, and currently teaches English at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and is a mentor for the nonprofit organization, The Seven Doctors Project. Her poetry and short fiction have been published by [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. Recent work by [name redacted] has appeared or is forthcoming in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. Her chapbook [name redacted] is forthcoming from [name redacted] (2015). Her website: [name redacted]. [name redacted] is a poet, visual artist, and soon-to-be librarian living in Boston, Massachusetts. His previous works have appeared in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and as an occasional contributor to [website redacted] and [website redacted]. He maintains a blog of recent work at [website redacted]. [name redacted] is currently co-editor-in-chief for [name redacted]. She also curates [name redacted] at [website redacted], where poets write about music. Her chapbook [name redacted] is forthcoming from [name redacted]. She lives in Jersey City and blogs occasionally at [website redacted]. [name redacted] holds a B.A. in English and a Writing Certificate from Kent State University and an M.A. in English from Cleveland State University. She has been published in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. Together with fellow Ohio poet, [name redacted], she has co-self-published a chapbook entitled [name redacted]. [name redacted] was born in Toronto, Ontario, but her adult years have all been spent in Waterloo, where she recently completed a degree in Political Science and English Literature, and in Victoria, BC. Her poetry has appeared in [name redacted] and [name redacted]; her fiction at [name redacted]. In 2009 she won a 24-hour playwright competition with [name redacted]. [name redacted] is a poet and children's author from Edmonton. She has published poetry in [name redacted], [name redacted] and has also published a children's story with a CD. [name redacted] is a poet â&#x20AC;&#x201C; poems he has written have appeared on [name redacted], [name redacted], & in his spare time he is an amateur hermit. [name redacted]â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s poetry and prose has appeared or is forthcoming in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted] and elsewhere. She teaches writing at the University of Pittsburgh, where she received an MFA in poetry and MA in Literature. [name redacted]â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first book, [name redacted], is forthcoming from [name redacted]. [name redacted], a chapbook, will appear from [name redacted] in 2006. Recent poems appear in [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas and coedits [name redacted]. [name redacted] is a poet currently residing in Dumfries, Virginia. He serves as a staff writer/reviewer for [name redacted], and his poems have appeared or are forthcoming in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and elsewhere. [name redacted] is Associate Professor of English and World Comparative Literature, National Taipei University of Technology. His full-length book of poetry, [name redacted], was published by [name redacted] in 2008. Poems and stories have appeared, most recently, in [name redacted]; [name redacted]; [name redacted]; [name redacted]; [name redacted]; [name redacted]; [name redacted]; and [name redacted]. Scholarly articles have appeared in [name redacted]; [name redacted]; [name redacted]; [name redacted]; and [name redacted]. [name redacted] is also a performance artist,

theatrical magician and singer-songwriter. His original album [name redacted] was produced by [name redacted] in 2013. [name redacted] lives in Mobile, Alabama. She is an English instructor at the University of South Alabama. [name redacted] is currently working on a chapbook of modernist sermons as poetry. [name redacted] was raised in Haynesville, Louisiana. His work includes the novels [name redacted] ([name redacted]) and [name redacted] ([name redacted]). Non-fiction and poetry have appeared under his name in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and other publications. A schoolteacher by trade, he currently lives with his wife on a mountain in rural northwest Arkansas. [name redacted] is from a leviathan corporation that moved her family every two years. Her work has appeared in: [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. Honors and awards include: [name redacted], [name redacted]; [name redacted], U of Utah; [name redacted], Semifinalist; [name redacted], [name redacted], Poetry; [name redacted], Fiction, UNCW; [name redacted], Fiction; [name redacted], Poetry; [name redacted], Poetry. More at [website redacted] [name redacted], 30 yrs old, Israeli. Of melancholic temperament. An anti-capitalist working endless hours as a rough laborer. A tribalist renting an open apartment alone, with a ginger bitch. Post-psychedelic, affectionate, musical, post-new-age. He dreams of one day being a hipper, hippier version of [name redacted]. [name redacted] lives in Somerville, Mass., with her husband, daughter, and two cats. In 2005, her poem "[name redacted]" was included in U.S. Poet Laureate [name redacted]'s [name redacted] project. [name redacted] just completed a one year [name redacted] in Wesleyan University's Writing Program and currently lives in Brooklyn. She is an editorial assistant at [name redacted], a fiction reader for [name redacted], and also works for [name redacted]. Her recent poems have been published or are forthcoming in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. Feel free to email her at [email redacted]. [name redacted] is a writer, reader, listener, watcher and lover of all things gothic, weird and obscure. She comes from the land of kitsch vampires and cheap alcohol, though she is currently based in the UK. On a dayto-day basis, she keeps impending madness at bay by striving to maintain the fragile balance between her research, her teaching, her writing and the slightly less exciting parts of her life. [name redacted] is an author of poetry and short fiction currently living in St. Catharines Ontario. His work has appeared in issues of [name redacted] and the anthology [name redacted], as well as upcoming issues of [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and elsewhere. [name redacted]â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chapbook, [name redacted], was published by [name redacted] in April of 2012. You can follow [name redacted] on Twitter, @[name redacted]. [name redacted] is a Brooklyn, NYbased writer of poetry and fiction. He is the founder and publisher of [name redacted], a literary journal/website built on the promise of helping emerging writers gain exposure. [name redacted]â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work has been featured in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted], among other publications. [name redacted] has published widely in journals such as [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. Awards include two [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and a [name redacted]. She was a finalist in the [name redacted] (2007), [name redacted] (2009, 2012), and received honorable mentions in the [name redacted]â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s [name redacted] (2008, 2010). She is the editor of [name redacted], and lives on a small horse farm in Northern Illinois. She has published 11 books including [name redacted] ([name redacted]), [name redacted] ([name redacted]) and [name redacted] from [name redacted]. [name redacted] received the 2013 [name redacted]. [name redacted] was published in spring of 2014 by [name redacted] ([name redacted]). Two chapbooks are forthcoming in 2014; [name redacted] ([name redacted]) and [name redacted] ([name redacted]). [name redacted] is also an associate editor of [name redacted] and [name redacted]. [name redacted], b. 1970, is an artist, writer and public servant based in the South Pennines. [name redacted] has enjoyed a

varied career that has included roles as diverse as video producer, script writer, lecturer, project manager and landscape painter. [name redacted]’s poetry has been accepted for publication in a number of journals and anthologies including [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. [name redacted] is a regular contributor to [name redacted] poetry performance nights. He lives in [name redacted] with his wife and three children. [name redacted] lives and creates in Huntsville, AL, where she’s a writer, editor, and visual artist. She’s the Interviews Editor for [name redacted] and the Editor of [name redacted]. Her work is forthcoming or has recently appeared in [name redacted] and [name redacted]. You can find more of her work at [website redacted]. [name redacted] lives and works in Kentucky, and recently graduated from the University of Louisville, where he studied philosophy. When he’s not writing, he spends his time hiking, climbing, fishing and generally spending as much time outdoors as possible. He has had recent work appear in [name redacted], [name redacted] and [name redacted]. [name redacted]: "Poetry of mine has appeared recently in [name redacted], [name redacted] and [name redacted]. Other of my work has been published in the [name redacted] anthology ([website redacted]), [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. My work has appeared in numerous other literary journals, including [name redacted] (a [name redacted] nominee), [name redacted] (also a [name redacted] nominee), [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. A one-act play of mine was a finalist in the [name redacted] and was produced in Seattle." [name redacted] was born in Edmonton, Alberta and grew up in Kamloops, BC. He has taught ESL in China and is a graduate of the [name redacted]. [name redacted] is currently writing and filming in Kamloops. [name redacted], former college English instructor, writes in the Texas Hill Country. Both a juried and featured poet at the [name redacted], she’s also won a Japanese haiku contest. Her poetry and fiction have been nominated for a [name redacted]. She also writes essays and plays. [name redacted] is a French translator living in Paris. Her poems have appeared in [name redacted], the [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted] and [name redacted], among others. [name redacted] is a graduate of Kalamazoo College, the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers, and Drew University, where he completed an MA in British and American Literatures. He teaches creative and expository writing in the Paul McGhee Division, a liberal arts college within New York University. His work has appeared previously in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and will also be included in upcoming issues of [name redacted], and [name redacted]. He lives in Mamaroneck, New York, with his wife, [name redacted]. [name redacted] I am a twenty year old from Ireland who works in the office of a catering company and seeks to become a full time writer. [name redacted] has written a novel called [name redacted], which is forthcoming from [name redacted]. She has work published in [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted], among others, and a chapbook of poetry, [name redacted], available from [name redacted]. She homegirls it up at [website redacted]. [name redacted] is a poet, scholar and educator from Buffalo, NY. His poems appear in a number of literary magazines and academic journals, most recently [name redacted] and [name redacted]. His scholarship appears in refereed academic journals. An article entitled "[name redacted]" will appear in [name redacted] this spring. He also is a frequent contributor to the online music magazine, [website redacted]. Poetic interests include: the beats, [name redacted], French symbolism, the Language poets, and hip-hop. [name redacted] was born in the South Bronx, NYC and raised in Carruzos, Carolina, Puerto Rico. He is a graduate of DeWitt Clinton high school and has studied at Hudson Valley Community College; Fordham University (Rose Hill); University of Kentucky and Pace University (NYC). He holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish Literature and Latin American Studies, and a Master in Secondary Education. He is a doctoral student in the Education Policy and Evaluation program at the University of Kentucky and lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky where he is the director of the Office of Diversity Programs for Western

Kentucky University. As an undergraduate student he co-founded the [name redacted]â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a group of friends who have dedicated the last 20 years of their writing careers, to the aesthetic of making the invisible visible. Look for [name redacted]'s poems in the [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted], [name redacted] and on his website at [website redacted]. [name redacted] is a professional writing/editing major at Youngstown State University. He has been published at [name redacted], where he works as a slush reader. [name redacted] lives in San Francisco, CA where runs a workshop on poetics and edits [name redacted]. His work is forthcoming or has appeared online at [name redacted] and [name redacted] and in print in [name redacted], [name redacted], and [name redacted]. In 2007, his poem "[name redacted]" received the [name redacted] and [name redacted] awards at the Pennsylvania State University. Currently he is pursuing his MFA in Writing at California College of the Arts and working on a book, a re-curation, of text found in the 75th Anniversary Show at the [name redacted].

SACHA ARCHER

MICHALIS PICHLER Migration #31

Poema Existencial

BELÉN GACHE tipografía disponible en http://belengache.net/ratona/

Small Comfort (cover) Claudia Schiefer laying between two couches A magician doing a levitation trick A piece of metal held up high Religious iconography A fashion model without body A parachute A piece of fabric blown by the wind A piece of fabric and a fruit stuck in the corner of a couch A prismatic three dimensional structure made out of thin metal A paper kite Exotic fruits cut in exotic shapes A folded napkin Semiplume feathers Two hands, open fingers Hand cut hands A face in a bowl Zoom of a single noodle Kids doing gymnastics A black woman holding her leg high, forming an arch Henri Moore Two young girl contortionists Reclining figure A human body underneath silver latex Detail of cut shapes on a dress A girl wearing a cardboard mask A View-Master An abstract playground Cut circles on cardboard A hole showing the back of a lady A naked back Upholstery A folded jacket Peruvian sculptures Gabriel Kuri A landscape Lady Gaga Magnets and powder Lady Gaga Pierre Huyghe, Untitled An Olmec head A stone head A Transparent crystal A marbled column Yaacov Agam A falling curtain in a circular shape A sculpture wrapped in cloth Three ghosts Folded felt Robert Morris A hole in a mountain Sticks and plastic forming a tipi-like construction Ernst Caramelle A modernistic haircut A half naked man making an arch Franz West Wire like chips on a plate Twisted cotton Braided hairstyle A porous organic shape Corals A stone with eyes and mouth An ancient mask A boy wearing a hoodie with holes in it An abstract face A brick with nose A face made out of cardboard Something upon a teenagers nose The profile of a clip on a girls nose A melted ice-cream cone on the floor A stone A piece of marbled cake A champignon Folded sheet as head decoration A dress blown by the wind A circular structure made of wood A mechanical game Neon lights Cubes of iron forming a sculpture Strings and glass A cage A net with cans A reflection upon a platter

An ancient mask A boy wearing a hoodie with holes in it An abstract face A brick with nose A face made out of cardboard Something upon a teenagers nose The profile of a clip on a girls nose A melted ice-cream cone on the floor A stone A piece of marbled cake A champignon Folded sheet as head decoration A dress blown by the wind A circular structure made of wood A mechanical game Neon lights Cubes of iron forming a sculpture Strings and glass A cage A net with cans A reflection upon a platter Diamond shaped screen A window Sol Lewitt Solar Panel A metal bed A metal rail and stairs A grid on fabric Two balls on a chair Two boys wearing paper masks A paper mask A blindfolded kid Lady Justice A hand holdng something transparent Melting ice A hand grabbing something wattery A water fall A brides veil A chiffon dress Curtains blown by the wind A mosquito net A human underneath a net A fisherman’s net A deflated plastic dome A bunch of plastic bags Two guys hugging A head inside a full shopping cart Breaking bricks with the head a karate move A fan A white peacock A coral A Bismark palm A folded napkin in shape of a fan A braided circular hair-do A hand holding a paper folded structure An A dress Clay A transparen jelly fish The bottom of a champignon A coral A gray hair swirl A swirl in the ocean The zoom of a finger print A distorted face A handcrafted cardboard mask A blown up latex glove The back of a head Cotton candy A wooden model of a head Clay on a stick The profile of a sculpture Head massage Hand on bust A man wearing a turtle neck Crowd surfing A crowd reaching out Lord Shiva’s pose An organ cactus A human pose Synchronized swimming A man opening his mouth

CLAUDIA DE LA TORRE

Eleven