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Abstract

s fire and fuel</p><p id="4733">you dare failure to defeat you</p><p id="10c9">you taunt fate and fortune</p><p id="77d6">mocking her tastes her fickle prejudices</p><p id="d3d1">and you toss handfuls of pure loss into Medium’s vacuum</p><p id="2457"><i>her nihilism of novelty</i></p><p id="9a30">loss after loss</p><p id="fee0">as they, yet again, start shaving off your earnings</p><p id="4c1b">a little here, a bit there</p><p id="0ae3">last week a poem pulled in ten bucks, this week it’s four dollars</p><p id="219a">Christmas crack down, budget crunch</p><p id="46c5">even after tripling fees for <i>friends of punishment</i></p><p id="6584">Algo’s playing with with the cash faucet again</p><p id="54aa"><i>on, off, on, off </i> keeping you guessing while the empty page plays you like a marionette</p><p id="533d">the blank white page begging for green highlights</p><p id="9fa4">will December be a repeat of September?</p><p id="c084"><i>it is out of your hands,</i> you tell yourself, and roll another round of losing dice, tossing it in Fortune’s face</p><p id="5945">showing her you can survive another defeat</p><p id="0e06">proving once again you have more skins than a rattle snake and more lives than a cat</p><figure id="bc17"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*tPK9CvTxMdRDY_nhPoLRIw.jpeg"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@wrenmeinberg?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Wren Meinberg</a> on <a href="https://unspla

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sh.com/photos/tabby-cat-on-ledge-AL2-t0GrSko?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure><p id="e770"><b>© Carlo Zeno 2023</b></p><p id="2aa3">______________________</p><p id="2b4c">Thanks for reading, and thank you to the team at <a href="https://medium.com/scuzzbucket">Scuzzbucket</a>. In case you missed them, here are two earlier poems:</p><div id="8307" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/both-blessed-and-damned-ff91cef8a617"> <div> <div> <h2>Both Blessed And Damned</h2> <div><h3>To all of the writers and poets</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*018Fz-ReYiXyAK0lzc_CIw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="7018" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/barely-above-water-5b715f47900c"> <div> <div> <h2>Barely Above Water</h2> <div><h3>In service to the few</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*ahJ49UJhIRedTNmGOIncRw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Acts Of Loss

Navigating daily defeat

you toss your poems like losing dice into the great online void

seeking hearts and eyes

you are only as relevant as your last poem

three days is a life time

a week is a century

in the daily bull rush of the latest, loudest titles

the newest boost, fool’s juice

so you blow hot your bad hand, your shitty deck

you’re holding a three of clubs, a two of broken hearts

the gods gave up on you years ago

Carlo’s cashed out, a lost cause, an aborted project, a mistake

says Mars to Venus

and mother and father agree

only your dead grandfather keeps the demon alive in you

ancestors always know how to crack the whip

suicidal ambition, quixotic mission, grand delusion

your organs are planets, your blood is fire and fuel

you dare failure to defeat you

you taunt fate and fortune

mocking her tastes her fickle prejudices

and you toss handfuls of pure loss into Medium’s vacuum

her nihilism of novelty

loss after loss

as they, yet again, start shaving off your earnings

a little here, a bit there

last week a poem pulled in ten bucks, this week it’s four dollars

Christmas crack down, budget crunch

even after tripling fees for friends of punishment

Algo’s playing with with the cash faucet again

on, off, on, off keeping you guessing while the empty page plays you like a marionette

the blank white page begging for green highlights

will December be a repeat of September?

it is out of your hands, you tell yourself, and roll another round of losing dice, tossing it in Fortune’s face

showing her you can survive another defeat

proving once again you have more skins than a rattle snake and more lives than a cat

______________________

Thanks for reading, and thank you to the team at Scuzzbucket. In case you missed them, here are two earlier poems: