Litmus By Matt Carney

Litmus

Every night is
this litmus test
with death,
the debutant,
the lilies and lilacs
my friends,
surrounded with the
applause of summer
so far below
my space and my time
and all the vestiges of
someone else—so far--
As I’ve stood so far
below my window
as someone else
looking up.

My bottle of wine,
my brittle vision,
a belittled ego--
I am weak with alcohol,
bitter with nostalgia,
better with age.
Rewatch all
My little deaths again
as the record repeats
and synesthesia bores holes in me.



Matt Carney is a human type residing in San Francisco. He holds an MA and MFA from SFSU. His work has appeared in A cappella Zoo, Inkwell, Red Light Lit, Writing Without Walls, sPARKLE & bLINK, Entropy, and in readings at eclectic or seedy bars. His short story 'On Becoming' was a finalist in the 2017 Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Contest. Naturally, his heroes are David Bowie, Ellen Ripley, and Chun Li. @ruddagerrustin