CMP Featured Writer: Joanna Grant

Things I Googled After My Last Living Uncle Finally
Drank Himself to Death Just After Christmas

–Average regular funeral cost in this Year of Our Lord

–Cost of most basic cremation for people who can’t afford regular funeral

–Can I have my ashes scattered on Hank Williams, Senior’s grave

–Can I scatter them on Hank Williams’s grave legally

–If caught scattering my ashes on Hank Williams’s grave illegally what happens to

the person who scattered me hypothetically

–Penalty for stealing a corpse and setting it on fire outside Joshua Tree was

–Penalty for setting corpse on fire outside Joshua Tree is now

–Greatest hits (did you mean Gram not Graham Parsons—disambiguate)

–YouTube Flying Burrito Brothers videos (playlist approx. 1:43:36)

–How do you actually drink yourself to death and how long does it take (Mayo Clinic)

–YouTube: Best of Intervention Season 12 (playlist approx. 6:27)

–Alcoholism addiction causes (nature versus nurture current research)

–Addiction causes experts role of lack of connection complex childhood trauma

–Use of humor to deflect childhood trauma how bad is it really

–Alexa: how do I forget what I want to forget and remember what I need to remember

–No Alexa I said “remember” not “cucumber” not that kind of recipe

–Okay Siri then: to what extent am I my own person? How trapped am I in my past? How trapped am I in the things that happened sixty years ago, the night their mother slowly bled to death drunk on the floor, their father drunker next to her, her blood slowly rusting on his raw-knuckled hands? How to free myself of this mirage, this image concocted of vague description still clearer to my mind’s eye than anything I’ve ever actually seen in the flesh?

–Response: Your search did not match any documents please try different keywords/more keywords/fewer keywords/more general keywords/check your spelling/good luck/you are going to need it/Season’s Greetings and Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate/With the Warmest Wishes for the Happiest of New Years

©2024 Joanna Grant All rights reserved.

Sister Joanna

Joanna Grant is a Cajun mutt, as her father was born on the Gulf Coast near New Orleans and her mother came from Georgia. She currently lives and works outside of Doha, Qatar, where she teaches college extension classes to deployed American soldiers. Her most recent collection is Adrift from Alien Buddha Press.

Cajun Mutt Press Featured Writer 06/17/24

A Crisis Of Finite Channels

i.)

Radio? Radio!
News cast, a lure a hook,
whether I should or should not.

These days are cold; nights hot,
a conformity desert for the song
and the city, no end probable.
News may never stop but there is
control — pop news for pop people
with pop tastes — thought control…
Individual  termination,
a politics of fashion to be
worn, warned, or discarded…

All census and no report.

ii)

Have a pleasant evening?
… As I am ordered then to do.

A-ha! So clumsy.
A-ha! So deafened…
A night of firsts.

I know what I am doing:
not enough, no — not enough.
Everyone is beyond, out of range
of vision and “vulnerable” bites.

Everytime I see that wall
of brick, I see a wall of brick.
The window panes insult me
like  the bird.

… Please don’t kill what makes “me”.

iii)

Gasp from my tears, hide
in the blatant, safe in the open.
Every society needs their bastard
like in their stories I disbelieve.

I am forced to look behind all masks
because     they are there.
Most masks smile: those
who donned them deaden.

Lit with awe and wonderment
this night, a suspect am I.
All ways in ways no more I will
see what is left to be done.

Look beyond the rags on that fence.
I will say hello… And scare you.

The voice
on the radio
stutters.

iv.)

Us us, or them them?

Some point in argument,
all that sustains the pop plan
leads me lost, rules my ruin —
the propaganda of sticks!
All as one is strength is not
when one is one and knows,
when everyone is aware
as merely a one there can be
no bundling, no propaganda of sticks.

Too much is too little.
The majority are tight.
The societal common stagnates —
so many creative ways
to be imprisoned by the imprisoned.

v.)

Shown the starkness
of being, awareness creeps
that the average are sold the gain
of strength through conformity.
They are to aspire to be
a part, a piece, never a whole,
no self in a part, in a piece.

The powers devised a plan
that all should be unaware
in a swarm’s instinct.

Am not weak — am not apathetic.
They hate, so hate themselves,
fight and struggle — stare with eyes
growing weaker at such sights.

vi.)

“So, you think
you’re special, huh?”
… No. I just have
my differences.

“So is that what makes you
think you’re so special, then?”
… No. You just seem to have known
no one different than you
or your belief and ways.
I do not share your beliefs.
I do not share your ways.
I am no more;
I am no less.

“Not being too elitist are you?”

The voice
on the radio
changes.

vii.)

No clear patterns have emerged
as to who as a rule will succumb
to individuality or
of awareness nearly individual;
freedom is  myriad.

Conformists have died
on their coffee break.
Conformists have died
during coroner inquests.
Conformists have pulled
party lines too hardline.
Conformists have died
live and on the air.

They are they and I
am a man out of room.
They cannot break
what has been broken,
an attracted stare that will not
undress just any woman.

viii.)

Listen!
An underscored symphony.

A lot of time is spent
out of room.
Firsts are reluctant;
to fight for.
The thinker must fight to think
and to practice the thought.

If the room was my mind
I would arrange my thoughts
felt physically, to be the scene —
would be the centre of it intricate.

In this place
when one leaves
one leaves with them,
and everyone is there
as bereavement clashes.

ix.)

The place is bleak
cold and dark; most endangered
are the naked in the rain.
No security, no shelter.
Fear makes it darken, sends you
deeper, clutching the broken.

Be adrift
in the cinema of the soul.
Sordid corners,
eMpTyVision,
satisfaction is not mine;
performance is not yours.

Let go — all this time.
All this pain — too long.
Stay  not still.
Century     to century.
Fire. Murder. Wheel. Moon.

Channel love, my love.

©2024 David Alec Knight All rights reserved.

Brother Knight

David Alec Knight grew up in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. In 2021, David was recipient of The Ted Plantos Memorial Award for Poetry. His first book of poetry, The

Heart Is A Hollow Organ, soon followed. His second book of poetry, LEPER MOSH, was published by Cajun Mutt Press in 2022. It featured his artwork on the cover, combining his interest in art with his writing.

Recent works have appeared in Verse Afire, Night Owl Narrative, and Medusa’s Kitchen. Anthology appearances include Poets For Ukraine Volume 1 and Love Lies Bleeding.

David sees dark and light around him in equal measure and explores that in his poetry, whether exploring working class themes, neurodivergence, addiction, urban living in conflict with Nature, and the effects all
these things have on relationships.

He works full-time in Long Term Care.

Cajun Mutt Press Featured Writer 06/14/24

NOTES FROM THE DEAD

Once flesh,
in the visible world,
I am this stone.
It bears my name
and figures that’s enough.
You can touch it
but any response
is all up to you.
My stone will, forever,
have a stone’s life.

Maybe my image
floats up in your head.
But, without the being
to back it up,
I am increasingly
decreasing.

©2024 John Grey All rights reserved.

Brother Grey

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in New World Writing, North Dakota Quarterly and Lost Pilots. Latest books, Between Two Fires, Covert and Memory Outside The Head are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in California Quarterly, Birmingham Arts Journal, La Presa and Doubly Mad.

Cajun Mutt Press Featured Writer 06/03/24

Eulogy Menage

Simultaneous terror
Hair stood on end
500 million volts
Bolt and Clap are one
Human Communion with
An impersonal god and goddess.
His load delivered
to her surface
Through blood and bone.
Painless instant transition
Is of no concern to them.
As all bodily fluids boil
Boots burned through

Bad end to a good day
In the deep woods
My Bleached remains found
By a fellow wildcrafter
Years later
amidst a huge chanterelle flush

Picked up my skull and said
"Ah the Heretic Vicar, I knew him once!"

_______________________

DEATHSTYLE

Hey kid welcome to the human race
Got your carbon chain shackles and a working cranium
Prepare yourself to take your slice
Of Gaia's pie.
This progressive linear resource butchery
Has been our phillistine practice
in many ways
throughout hominid existence.
Rules are :
Consider yourself the last generation.
We all thought we were.
whoever digs the deepest hole wins.
Blinders on stay focused.
Never mind the noise or chemical smoke.
Give No quarter to the woke.
Step on toes. Compete!
It's the 4th Reich
Fuck the liberal elite!
Eat their lunch.
Remain in denial.
Never play fair or they'll win.
Dig like a pig for 80 years give or take.
If your lucky grab your chest.
Sorry you were born so late
You may BE the last.
No American Dream for your kids.
Bear Witness to human extinction.
30 or 40 ice ages from today
The cock roaches will say
The monkeys had their chance.

_______________________

I don't know how deep the well.
the angels won't tell .
they frequently speak through my pen.
They're here again.
Provide the only thing that makes me excited about life anymore.
guided trips through my grey matter imagery. Hamsterwheel chatter..it never stops.
Goddess forbid if it did
of what use would I be.

_______________________

Memories of war
Abhorrent acts
On the Killen floor
Faces live forever in
Minds eye
Thin veil Rationale
It was them or me.
Thought I could drink away the feelings
But it doesn't work anymore
Thousand mile stare
I'm back there
Like it was yesterday

_______________________

Whats left after closing time
All the shred and drama done.
Only music fit for listenin
In my arrogant opinion

More stories of the killen floor and my dying day
played on some slack key resonator
Preferably a Pegamule with an abalone inlay..don't make it sound no better
Just pretty like a full body tattoo girl
Curled up around my soul
Might as well dream still
While I'm on this side of the dirt

_______________________

I have a part in all my wrongdoing
I can no longer point the finger
Serenity exited long ago
Insomnia coupled with amoral thoughts
Too much late nite chocolate

_______________________

YAQUI TANKA

Ain't they the same place
Killen floor and prayen ground
Transition spirit
Death approaches from the left
Yaqui desert sorcerer

_______________________

Looken foreward to
tea with a coven
adorable michigan druids.
Dredlocks, snakebites.
Faces tattoo'd
With celtic knots
And ravens.
Conversation kept light;
as I'm the only man
seeking divination advice.
A misplaced word
might be
misinterpreted as a slight.
Resulting in a curse ,Jinx, or hexes
Cast the bones, read the stone.
Melodic incantation
Tell me witch!
What do you scry?
Does intuition say she's the one?
Do I give it another try?
Or preserve my occluded heart
And say goodbye.

©️2024 Heretic Vicar All rights reserved.

Brother Darrah

Voracious reader but lately doesn’t have the time.

From an auld Bucks County family of poets (brother and grandmother were both published).

Despite working around the performing arts, Chris didn’t pursue creative writing or performance till a year ago when; through some introspective journaling to cauterize a broken spirit he noted certain phrases had a ring. After attending a fellow poet’s funeral he was invited to read at the New Hope Beats gathering and hasn’t looked back! He now seeks to be published, travels to many open mics and hosts a Thursday monthly read at the Living Room Ardmore. His work has been described as ruminating introspective.

Cajun Mutt Press Featured Writer 05/15/24

The Pale Horse with the Marble Eye

All things considered
I would take the Gambit of
the pale horse with the marble eye

He slipped silently from the fog
on the periphery of my field

Marking the little time that we have

Thanks for the update you say
As I go about our day
and I’m lost on the on- ramp
Waiting for the excuse to cut in to the line
Of human succession

A blinker should do
But
Is that right?
Or is it left?

Not knowing the weight of the day I put on the hazards
Just to play it safe
And yet
I have managed to go no further than my
Driveway

I am stuck
along with the oil stains
wishing to be

Gone
without a trace

no spark

No idea
As to what makes us human
Makes us move forward

We are the generation of promises
The generation of easy
The first family of peace

And
We suffer for it

We are not defined for defending
We are not defined for freedom
We can not see the absence of war
Entirely connected

And yet
Lacking the ability to say “Hello”

NO,
We are the ones that know how often death can be

And yet,
fail to grasp the consciousness of the day
We are your parents lost generation

There is no denying it

The truth is
We can have no authority to what America is

We have landed in a reality that betrays the word

And we can not unite
And we can not understand the truth
Only the differences that we are

We have lost the Great Dream
The Great Experience

And we are too scared to do anything about it.
Forever the in between

So give me the Gambit of the Pale Horse
with the marble eye

And we will slip silently back

into the fog.

©2024 Ben Holland All rights reserved.

Brother Holland reading “Johnny Depp is Not Coming” at Gonzofest 2023

The new face of the seeker in the crowd, Ben Holland has traversed the globe in search of many things – mostly himself. To now reside in Kentucky after having been chased out of Camelot (some may call it Connecticut), surviving tours of duty in as far away and exotic places as Iraq and Kuwait, is what could be called a small miracle. Belonging now to tribe of transplants that is Louisville, he finds himself square amid a life that is once again evolving into something more fit for his creative spirit. At the urging of his lovely wife, he is finally pursuing an active writing career, and it starts now!