Artwork by Bailey Ritsema

"Four Meditations on a Meta Gas Station", by Craig Finlay

1.


I had to get some gas before your funeral, not

that I really felt so enthusiastic about gas. I just

needed it, and wouldn’t you know it, cigarettes

and coffee and all the things people buy? Yes,

I saw people buying them in front of me and I

thought it felt so weird that people still need

cigarettes and coffee when you die and weird

too that their money would even work, right?


There cannot be one reason, one goddamn

reason why that should be the case, but speaking

about it now I have to remind myself it is not

like you weren’t so terribly important and alive.



2. 


3:57 at the Speedway on Ironwood
.
At the school after school they’re in the street
walking down the street forsaking sidewalks 
thin and
godlike and essential. I am trying 
to stick to my diet,
get home, cook my own meals, 
tend my own body and
they are in the street.

I wait for them to clear and they persist in walking

four abreast swaddled in backpacks and foreign 
fashion
and some of the girls are so beautiful 
and I wonder if I was
ever like any of the boys.  
All those other people in their other
cars honk 
and throw insults from their throats like handfuls of
styrofoam.  
They stay in the street and tell us of their flat stomachs
and good knees and lives they’ve not yet ruined.

We tell them we had life before they were ever born

that we have wisdom and we don’t say that we never
wanted any of this.

 Never wanted to grow old and heavy
but we never 
found a feasible alternative so we did it, anyway.
And now they move, slowly to the Speedway and turn
 as I accelerate
and tell me, we know, we know
,
we know, and I say, just don’t tell anyone,
okay?



3.


I told her the socks at a gas station

they’re really for huffing paint when

she bought socks at a gas station
the socks are for
huffing paint
 shoelaces are for shooting junk

Chore-Boy and those little plastic roses 
are for
smoking crack and she said

oh, I was going to use them on my feet



4.


Comfort and welcome of blanket light,

awning fallen at the closest gas station

deep tracks in brown snow shifting before tires

the certain red configuration of low gas prices
 an ice machine,
the improvised ashtray atop
where the thin employee in tight
black pants
 smokes Marlboro menthols and a tattoo
s
lipping down the flat of her hip, moving
 her knees alternating
double time and free hand
cuff-drawn tight under her breast. 

Now, the twins
 always arriving together for slushies,
Reese's, 
the teenage boy at the till his body like a blade
 the
broken bodied man with a voice like a saw
ancient, blue blurred
tattoos on papery skin
 who buys a pack of Cheyenne Little Cigars
and steps
into deep ridges of snow, like waves in paint by
number
 past the shivering, smoking girl whose ride is finally here

whose ride accepts her, and leaves a wake in the thickening
fall
 there until the stuttering work truck, the decaffeinated cop
y
yourself, on a weak willed pilgrimage to lights like stars

Erik Keister, Interview

Erik Keister | December 19th, 2015

Brooke: You're quite the fan of post-apocalyptic themes. From playing the Fallout games, borrowing novels by Cormac McCarthy, and studying "end-of-the-world" mythologies, such as "Ragnarok". Why is that?

Erik: It's adventurous. Everyone is gone. You don't have to worry about so much happening at once. I'm an intuitive person, so I feel like I could be suitable for that situation. Without as many distractions, you can connect more to yourself and the things around you.

*

Brooke: As an aspiring multi-instrumentalist, what are your strategies for practicing each instrument? How do you balance the time for it?

Erik: I disappear. I take myself away so that I can practice for hours and hours. I switch from guitar, to bass, to drums. Luckily, guitar and bass are similar. I don't have to practice them individually as much. It takes a lot of discipline. If you're in an environment where you can concentrate, you can improve your skills. Someday, I'd like to pick up on a new instrument, like violin.

*

Brooke: We spent a weekend in Chicago without booking a hotel room. Screaming Females had back-to-back shows in the city, a liberal bellhop talked our ears off until five in the morning, and we crashed at the train station with hundreds of people shuffling around us. What was that experience like for you?

Erik: It was interesting, but stressful. Although, overall, it was the coolest thing to happen to me. It kind of led into the "post-apocalyptic" theme, since we had to look out for ourselves. I was struck with an overwhelming amount of inspiration after seeing Screaming Females again, especially two nights in a row. Whenever I see Marissa Paternoster perform, I want to /be/ her. I love her style. 

*

Brooke: You are always equipped with a sketchbook. When did drawing become a hobby for you? Which utensil do you prefer to use?

Erik: I've been drawing since I was a kid. It's been a hobby for as long as I can remember. I started off by trying to mimic "Dragon Ball Z" characters, but I wanted to branch out because my friends were drawing in the same style. I started watching American cartoons mores, like "Ed, Edd, and Eddy" and "Johnny Bravo", to challenge myself. I prefer to use a pencil or a fine-point pen. I'm into detailed "doodle art", so those utensils are easier for me to work with.

Scott Morgan, Interview

Scott Morgan | October 8th, 2015

Brooke: I can picture you in a dimly-lit room, sitting at a desk with stationary supplies and "Tales of the Crypt" playing in the background. What kind of environment helps you write?

Scott: Surprisingly, it varies. As opposed to the common cliché of me sitting in a dark room by candlelight with a roll of parchment, I could find inspiration in a lonely, dark room at night, or it could come to me randomly while I'm outside on a sunny day. I start writing wherever the inspiration strikes. 

*

Brooke: Your poetry is recognized by its darker themes and strange details. What inspired you to stick with this genre? Any authors in particular that influenced you the most? 

Scott: I've always found that the sublime qualities within literature are more interesting than the ones in stories like "My Little Pony". I like the idea of the unexpected; as much as it terrifies me, I want to be surprised by the context. I try to project that to my readers and keep them on the edge of their seats. As far as influential authors, I go back to the classics, such as John Milton's "Paradise Lost" or the works of Edgar Allen Poe, of course. He defined "mystery" and revolutionized literature.

*

Brooke: As a student, how do you break out of "study mode" and get in the mindset for writing? What advice would you give to other students that are trying to get back in touch with their creative side?

Scott: It took a lot for me to get back in the habit of writing while I'm in school. We go day after day thinking academically, so when I have a big project or paper that gives me the option of using "supernatural" literature or things of interest, I work that into the assignments. For example, I like Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper". I've written several scholastic papers on it. It's so weird and creepy. You can go any way with it. It balances the academic and creative sides of me.
 
*

Brooke: If you could choose any fictitious character to take out to a pizzeria, who would it be and what would your toppings be? What do you think their toppings would be?

Scott: There is such a variety to choose from, but I would choose Pinhead from Hellraiser, particularly because I want to know his connotations of "yin" and "yang", "pain" and "pleasure". I'm interested in knowing how a person becomes "morally corrupt". I would say to him, "you are completely insane; I really don't want to know you, but you inspire me." I believe in rebellion. I believe in sticking out from the crowd and going against what is expected, so I'm wanting to know what compels people like him to do something shocking. We could discuss all of that over pizza. My toppings would be pepperoni and cheese. His toppings would probably be a lot of spikes, chocolate sauce, and blood. Anything that would stab the roof of your mouth. 

 

"Autothysis"

I hear Enceladus is very nice this time of year
Maybe I’ll crawl there after I decompose

I cut out letters from your bible to write this
so please excuse all the hemoglobin

What ills will you speak of me
now that my heart’s being pumped by
Nitroglycerin?

If you’re still reading this, you’re an asshole

I love you. Kbye.

"Solanaceae Symphony"

Life is a violin;
out of tune and sharp
I am eternally "evis cer ated"

I laugh at what I compose:
a piece entitled “Hope”

There is no melody for incessant lies
Only applause

[written by Scott Morgan]