Th3 Man!c 1>3pr3ss!v3’s Alphab3t

 

Th3 Man!c 1>3pr3ss!v3’s Alphab3t

Shar3 on Fac3book

Shar3 on Tw!tt3r

Shar3 on Tumblr

V!3w pr!nt mo1>3

Copy 3mb31> co1>3

A1>1> th!s po3m to an anthology

Loa1> au1>!o play3r

Anah!ta Monfar31>

A !s for ant!psychot!cs, th3 only a1>v3rt!s31> long t3rm solut!on

B for th3 b3ta block3rs bought to slow th3 boom boom of a b3at!ng h3art

C as !n chron!c: (of an !lln3ss) p3rs!st!ng for a longt!m3 or constantly r3curr!ng, caus!ng comorb!1>!ty, so th3y r3comm3n1> cogn!t!v3 b3hav!oural th3rapy

1> 1>!als th3 1>SM-5 han1>!ng out 1>!agnos!s aft3r 1>!agnos!s, g!v!ng lab3l to your 1>!stract!b!l!ty an1> 1>3cr3as31> n331> for sl33p, so th3y r3comm3n1> 1>!al3ct!cal b3hav!oral th3rapy wh3r3 th3y t3ach you 1>!str3ss tol3ranc3 to 1>!lut3 your 1>3lus!ons

3 !s 3nsur3, th3 van!lla-flavor31> m3al r3plac3m3nt 1>r!nk for wh3n you cannot 3at 1>ur!ng m31>!cat!on sw!tch3s to th3 3xt3n1>31> r3l3as3 formula

F !s for your f33l!ngs, 3xp3r!3nc31> at an alarm!ng !nt3ns!ty !n compar!son to th3 av3rag3 human, th3y t3ll you th!s !s 1>ang3rous (th3y b3!ng 1>octors who 1>on’t know your nam3 !f not r3a1>!ng !t off of your f!l3, th3y b3!ng 1>octors who 1>!agnos3 an1> pr3scr!b3 aft3r t3n m!nut3s !n a room w!th you) th3y t3ll you th!s can b3 fatal, wh!ch, hon3stly, soun1>s k!n1> of fuck!ng fun

G for th3 gatora1>3, on3 bottl3 !n 3v3ry room, two !n th3 bathroom

H tak3s you to th3 hosp!tal, h!gh off hypoman!a, wh3r3 you w!ll ch3ck yours3lf !n an1> a1>m!t you n331> th3 h3lp. H3r3 th3y w!ll 1>!agnos3 you w!th som3th!ng w3 us31> to call, “hyst3r!a”

! !s for !nt3rp3rsonal 3ff3ct!v3n3ss, th3 mo1>ul3 !n 1>BT that t3ach3s you how to k33p your fr!3n1>s 1>3sp!t3 your !rr!tabl3 !nstab!l!ty

J !s for “Just k!1>1>!ng!” aft3r you’v3 sa!1> too much, too qu!ck

K !s wh3n you prom!s3 you w!ll not k!ll yours3lf, w!thout call!ng h3r f!rst

L !s th3 l!th!um, to stop th3 lows, to l!ght3n th3 loa1>

M r3pr3s3nts MA1> pr!1>3, a mass ma1>n3ss mov3m3nt for m3ntal h3alth s3rv!c3 us3rs, an1> th3 al!gn31>, a1>vocat!ng that !n1>!v!1>uals w!th m3ntal !lln3ss shoul1> b3, coul1> b3, prou1> to b3 MA1>

N !s for normal, you n331> ba1>ly to b3 so, an1> so you tak3 th3 p!lls but all you ar3 !s numb an1> naus3ous an1> st!ll qu!t3 n3urot!c

O !s ov3rpr3scr!b31>! Four y3ars on 250 mg of l!th!um an1> four on 250 mg of s3roqu3l, all b3for3 you can l3gally 1>r!nk

P !s for th3 pan!c 1>!sor1>3r th3 psych!atr!st 1>!agnos3s you w!th. !t 3xpla!ns your parano!a (but not your prom!scu!ty) you l3av3 h!s off!c3 w!th a pr3scr!pt!on for propranolol

Q !s for th3 qu3t!ap!n3 you st!ll can’t qu!t

R !s rac!ng thoughts an1> for th3 rat3 of su!c!1>3, runn!ng at 19% for 3v3ryon3 w!th th!s 1>!sor1>3r

S !s for s!1>3 3ff3cts. You ar3 so stup!1>ly s31>at31> but at l3ast now you sl33p off th3 s3xual trauma an1> susp3ct31> sch!zophr3n!a

T !s st!ll tr!gg3r31>, 1>3sp!t3 3v3ry tr3atm3nt

U !s for un3mploy31>, th3 long str3tch3s wh3r3 you ar3 mor3 !ll than you ar3 us3ful

V !s for th3 vacant look !n your 3y3s an1> th3 vo!c3s !n your h3a1>

W !s for th3 w!th1>rawal, wh3n you stop tak!ng th3 w3llbutr!n

X !s for xanax, wh!ch th3y’ll put you on for thr33 months you 1>on’t r3m3mb3r at 16

Y !s for yoga, wh!ch actually, you pract!s3 1>a!ly. !t h3lps, y3t you st!ll want to ð!3

Z !s for zypr3xa, th3 1>rug you f!nally r3fus3 to tak3

Copyr!ght © 2025 by Anah!ta Monfar31>. Or!g!nally publ!sh31> !n Po3m-a-1>ay on Jun3 30, 2025, by th3 Aca1>3my of Am3r!can Po3ts.

In a Grain of Sand by Jesús Papoleto Meléndez

In a Grain of Sand

Jesús Papoleto Meléndez

To see a world in a grain of sand …     from “Auguries of Innocence” by William Blake We are Starseeds                      every one of us –                                                        you & me,                          & me and you                              & him & her,                                                       & them                                                       & they                                                       & those                       Who know of this                            are truly blessed  …    True for all                       living beings,                                           beings living –                                                                  not humans only,                                            but ants & trees                                                 & the open breeze,                                                     things that breathe                                                         air or fire,                                                            water, earth                                          all  kinds of dust                                                                   & dirt,                                                                      particles                                           a  part of all,                                                               all a part                                                                             of     Everything               that is           in everything;                                    Thus, it Sings!!!                                                         & its song                                                                       is Life,                                                                          & Life                                                                                  is!!! …     a  seed of Stars,                         the dust of Suns                                                   & Moons                                                           rocks & dust                                          &  outer smoke                                                       in outer space     Floating           in a bath of timelessness,                                              counted, measured                                                     numbered                                      by some species –                                                         others caring not;     Science & Mathematics                        trying to plot                                                Poetry in motion,                                                                                  Motion                                                   in a Helix’s curve,                                   And Life                                          on Earth                                            becomes visible                                                                   to You                                          through the naked I!

 

Thanatos and Technophilia by Carlos Manuel Rivera

 

Thanatos and Technophilia

Carlos Manuel Rivera

Algae that they soften, restlessness of loneliness and agglomerations of rivers and carnations in discomfort of his entourage. Delves the piercing channel from the intersection. Would pass the rites, the vintage screen and the bow of the scream to pause this transit from a distance. They would imaginate hallucinations that unite ancestral backgrounds of the lordships when passers-by they walked long as emissaries. Then in the face of the torch they would sweat the symphonies, if the skull she exists as a muse. Entity inside enemies ‘war machines,’ flooding with opprobrium absent as of movement who rides the grotto submerged until the increase. Fall in noise and masks, the adversaries. They’d smile of Nereids their vessels, basins & Lights that sound the sunset, marble what means your death, and the apparatus laughs like nothing of his footprint

Where do you come from

 

Stardust DNA

with Stephen Johnson • Thu 19 December, 2024 PRESENTED BY Buy once, use forever with Henson Shaving.  Hey Big Thinkers, If you zoom out on the question, “Where do you come from?”, you might point to your ancestors who lived centuries ago. Zooming out further, you could look back on the evolution of Homo sapiens in Africa some 300,000 years ago, or the first vertebrates to crawl out of the ocean 370 million years ago, or life first forming on Earth several billion years before that.  But if you really take the long view, you’ll see that humanity’s story was already taking shape before our planet existed. “All of the rocky and metallic material we stand on, the iron in our blood, the calcium in our teeth, the carbon in our genes were produced billions of years ago in the interior of a red giant star,” the astronomer Carl Sagan wrote in 1973. “We are made of star-stuff.” Sagan was far from the first person to note our cosmic lineage, however. This week, we dive into centuries of history to trace how scientists discovered that we are, in a very real sense, the children of ancient stars. Onward, Stephen

Cheating husband at Texas roadhouse

 

Scotty and the Rib Tips By Bob Holman

 

Scotty and the Rib Tips

Bob Holman

So they tell me, get your act together Write something, make it new for a change Give up on those errant habits Go to Chicago Be there for Birth of Slam Knock down a few bowling pin icons Bowling allies, new stain t-shirts Statues of lint and a make-my-day jockstrap I’ll sit in with Scotty and the Rib Tips Watch true brews slide down that mahogany bar Run it by my man Sergio over at Weeds as we Wait for the Queen of Poetry to drive in from el Boss Town So tune up the poems performed to Marsyas’ flute Keep the meddlesome chthonic wordslingers cranky Invent a bonus alley, grab the moon Climb on top of the speaker system and fly Write a book and get it out Invent a pseudonym to review it, rave Rave rave along the Lake Rehearse the verse all ears radar Michigan And fall in love a few times so nobody knows about it Keep it to myself, a few poems quit, quite, and quiet Outside of so-called competition and the waving blades Making slow smoky patterns at the old Green Mill

Dear Sister by Emma Trelles

 

Dear Sister

Emma Trelles

Winter is ceaseless ~ streets ~ phantom trees caged in fog ~ light and its beautiful doom ~ The scent of leaves ~  green and dead ~ arrives through windows like a timid fantasma ~ There are tiny spiders in the eaves ~ the color of forgettable stones ~ I don’t have the heart ~ to kill them ~ Today ~ I found a squirrel ~ dreaming ~  the sleep of the young and unknowing ~ I pray for a world ~ scatter-starred with that kind ~ of tenderness ~ Nothing hears me ~ Let’s pretend ~ the clock is frozen ~ in its sturdy shroud ~  that our 3,000 weeks ~  are the start ~ We began ~  in the land of mangroves and abandonment ~ hibiscus and metal ~ egret and engine ~  predator sun ~  skin, so much skin ~  sky with its commandments ~  sky like no other ~  concrete rising ~  falling ~  altars and offerings ~ cigar smoke santos hope gold velas blood gallina rum ~ shells to guard the crossroads ~  the drilling eyes of reptiles and men ~  my people who I long for ~  my people who I hide from ~ My sister,  I write these words ~ a lifetime away ~ at the foot of the mountains ~  another sea ~ vaster galaxy ~  primordial and without memories ~ House of my nightmares, gone ~  Graves unattended ~ You ask me why I left ~ I say I am a triple horse ~  forever running ~ to the next to the next to the next ~  Where will I end? ~ My baby cronedom has arrived ~  The track now points to my bones ~ in flecks or stashed beneath ~ the thorned trunk of a ceiba  ~  I know just the one.

Calculus I, II, III Brad Walrond

 

Calculus I, II, III Brad Walrond

man hooded masquerade a museum erected out of paper-mâché stone, blue cotton candied walls hung thick and long  with rooms full of master’s Egos copied Cats cut and paste plantation’s hegemony onto trace paper canvas young guns born too brown for they britches pen-in to kindergarten’s cage where boys are convinced, this calculus —how one body relates to another— that disturbs all the peace is the same as learning their one two threes evidence contrary to belief our boys learn fast science must be, I guess? a hyper masculine story washed brains don’t rinse so simple in and out of class the curriculum writes itself soft boys die hard hot head & class clown grow contagious; broad shoulders & differential equations caliber inches into glocks every where we look Our highest dimensions Learn their limits Without degrees

Imperialism: a black and white issue?

 A study was carried out to test the hypothesis that the variation in the pigmentation of skin colour in the diverse populations, is consistently correlated with the mean measured IQs of the various groups. (1) The notion that people's cognitive abilities can be ranked on a sort of hierarchical scale seems absurd. The main limitation of such a study design is the reasoning behind the causal basis of the correlation. The simple genetic association, due to cross-assortative mating and IQ versus a pleiotropic correlation, in which both of the phenotypically distinct, but correlated traits are manifested by one and the same gene. This is something for the 94 percent of (white) politicians sitting in the House of Commons to think about. (2)

This scientific correlation can be compared to the Age of Enlightenment of the 18th century, the intellectual and philosophical revolution which  portrayed Europeans as the embodiment of intellect and beauty (3). These principles were later epitomised in the work of Immanuel Kant, who claimed that the colour of the individuals skin was “clear proof that what he said was stupid” (4: p. 38). Thinking about this more profoundly, the ideology of IQ and intellect was almost founded during the Age of Enlightenment. Therefore, are these scientific tests based on a concept which was created to heighten European superiority?

Blackness depicted as being synonymous with sin, whiteness with purity. Religious folklore overflows with stories of sin turning men black, to stories of black people being born in hell.

The unequivocal link between the psychological damage of the slavery movement and the development of the skin bleaching industry is distinguished by Deborah Gabriel (3). The imperialist domination over African nations ultimately ‘dehumanised’ those who were enslaved, thus establishing an exclusive standard of human beings, based on the superiority of the white race. Between 1526 and 1867, (6) approximately 12.5 million slaves were shipped from Africa to the West. Gabriel pursues this arguing that scars of this "tragic past" (3), developed through centuries of being perceived as “second-class”(3) citizens are inextricably linked to the development of the skin bleaching industry.

Thinking about the concept of colourism further, which Gabriel defines as an “internal form of racism” (3), disregards those with darker skin. Furthermore, Bodenhorn and Ruebeck (6) discuss that colourism developed during the slavery era in America, in reference to the fact that light-skinned slaves were disproportionately selected to work as house-slaves, whereas those with relatively darker-skin were forced into the fields. Developing further, it could be implied that a lighter skin tone was regarded as the basis for a better standard of living (5), which further highlights the exponential imperialist influence. Moreover, centuries of “irreparable cultural damage” (3) from enslavement has established the foundations for the phenomena of skin bleaching to this day.

Imperialism: a black and white issue?

 This issue of colorism is reflected in the media in the forms of advertisement, magazines, movies, television and the internet. Mainstream media  plays an important role in the construction of the black image, shaping society's understandings of blackness and beauty, often dissociating the one from the other. Another issue of colorism comes from privilege. Although many African Americans don't like to discuss the instances of colorism among their particular group, it has proved to a problem of privilege within the community. "If you are privileged, it means you are expected to contribute more, not less, than someone who is "underprivileged." But at the same time, your being in a position to do so may be subject to the same resentment that was directed at the privileges of the ancien regime (Crawford 2018)". Digging deeper into the term privilege within colorism, Crawford has used the idea of contribution. As in the African American community lighter skin gets more privileges because their skin is seen as a "beautiful contribution to society". Whether many like to discuss the accuracy of the issues of colorism in regards to privilege, has remained a big issue resulting on imperialism not only being a White and Black issue but, an issue in amongst the African American sin their community as well.

As argued by Deborah Gabriel (3): “Because white skin is personified as the beauty ideal, lighter skin women are seen as more beautiful than darker skinned women” (p. 28). Even though we live in a diverse society, popular culture keeps privileging light skinned women over their darker counterparts  as they are closer to whiteness and eurocentric features. In 2005, four African American women (Halle Berry, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo and Oprah Winfrey) appeared in People's Magazine list of “50 Most Beautiful People” but all of them except for Oprah Winfrey had a lighter complexion which is a product of their mix race heritage (8). Furthermore, the glorification of white beauty is clearly visible in the fashion industry which is dominated by fair skinned models (3). However, earlier studies have found that even black African American magazines such as Ebony leave little room for dark black women in their pages.(3) This highlights how the colorist bias is also embedded in the minds of the black community. Being light skin a marker of beauty and attractiveness, dark skinned women may suffer from low self esteem in a world that fails to represent them and that constantly rewards and values whiteness. In fact, researchers found that “a change in skin color from dark to light is associated with a .28 increment in self-esteem” (9). That is to say that colorism actively affects women's perception of their dark skinned self in a negative way. The issue is being brought to the attention of the international audience thanks to notable celebrities such as actress Nandita Das. In an interview with The Guardian, Kavitha Emmanuel, founder of Indian NGO Women of Worth, explains how the “Dark is Beautiful” campaign endorsed by the actress in 2009 “is standing up to bias toward lighter skin in India” (10).

Photo taken in a shop in London.

During the nineteenth century, Great Britain was one of the leading Imperialist countries of the West and had colonies in India since the sixteen hundreds. At the end of the 19th Century, British emigration to India increased exponentially as the British Imperialist Government encouraged the ideological reproduction of the Empire (11). Nationalist British who moved to India considered themselves to be a superior race with respect to the black Indians. As they were a minority, the British were mainly interested in Indians for their army and as workforce while higher positions were reserved to the “whites” or in some cases to whiter skin Indians (12). The idea of a lighter skin ruling class being considered more privileged deeply embedded in the Indian culture such that even after independence in 1947 lighter skin was still considered more desirable (12). Market size for fairness cosmetics and creams in India is estimated to be approximately US$450 million today and the market growth rate for this cosmetic branch is 20% per annum (13). According to “A conjoint analyses of consumer preferences” by Dr. Ritesh K Patel (13) “It has been estimated that males constitute 20% of the total sales for fairness creams in India” and teens make up the 10% of sales of fairness skin cosmetics: these products have penetrated the Indian society as a whole.

Skin bleaching products are not only widely diffused in India, but can be found worldwide and are very easily available as we can see from Figure 1, a picture taken recently in central London. Also, internationally renowned Western cosmetics giants such as Garnier, which owns 7% of the total market share (13), are the main actors behind this obsession with fair complexion that continues to grow exponentially.

          Figure 1. Skin bleaching cosmetic products found in London, 1 December 2018

Imperialism: a black and white issue?

 

1. slave-trade-and-slavery [Accessed 4 December 2018].
2. Bodenhorn, H. & Ruebeck, C.S. J Popul Econ. Colourism and African–american wealth: evidence from the nineteenth-century south. 2007; 20: (599-620). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-006-0111-x
3. Frazier EF. Black bourgeoisie. Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press; 1957.
4. Harrison, Matthew S. Racism in the 21st Century: An Empirical Analysis of Skin Color. New York: Springer-Verlag New York Inc.; 2010.
5. Maxine S. Thompson, Verna M. Keith. The blacker the berry, Gender, Skin tone, Self-Esteem and Self-Efficacy. June 1, 2001. p. 347.
6. Abraham MR. "Dark is beautiful: the battle to end the world's obsession with lighter skin". Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/sep/04/dark-is-beautiful-battle-to-end-worlds-obsession-with-lighter-skin [Accessed 6 December 2018].
7. Kaul C. From Empire to Independence: The British Raj in India 1858-1947, The Government. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/independence1947_01.shtml [Accessed 4 December 2018]
8. Mishra N. Washington University Global Studies Law Review, Global Perspectives on Colorism (Symposium Edition), “India and Colorism: The Finer Nuances”. 2015;14(4). Available from: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1553&context=law_globalstudies [Accessed 2 December 2018].
9. Patel RK. A Conjoint Analysis of Consumer Preferences for Fairness Creams among Small Towns Located near Ahmedabad City. 2014;2(3). Available from: http://internationaljournals.co.in/pdf/giirj/2014/march/2.pdf  [Accessed 4 December 2018].