Compelling passages, notable quotables, bon mots, disjecta, ephemera, and miscellany.

Am I supposed to believe –

when I see this poster
advertising the adaptation of Anna Karenina
from the platform of the metro
every morning, every evening
with Anna’s ballerina body bent
like a stem of a leaf
falling or rising
a pose meant
to convey her existential tumult
while a small toy train circles her feet
her fate so diminished
that even if you haven’t indulged
in the 700-page tome
even if you never thought to do such a thing
or spent a winter considering your own personal adaptation
her ending is before you
every morning, every evening
on the platform of the metro
& you might think

Anna was bigger than the train?

“Adaptation,” from Obits. by Tess Liem.

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A newborn nightmare
flares methane blue.
My hands cup the pane.
Row on row of congregant faces
face an outside with me inside.

“Inbreaking” from Midday at the Super-Kamiokande, by Matthew Tierney

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USA USA USA USA USA USA USA
USA USA USA USA USA USA USA
USA TOO WIT TER HAT ERS USA
MAK EAM ERI CAG REA TAG AIN
USA USA USA USA USA USA USA
USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

“ISL AMO PHO BIA,” from SKY WRI TEI NGS, by Nasser Hussain.