Carmen is a Cat: October 2026

28.10.26

XRAYS

The bones of Bayruth look like buildings
before the flesh and secrets
have been carried off by the organisms
there, faces carry
the look of assassinations as well
on eclipse days as the ordinary ones,
a type of sudden death syndrome.
The fruit vendors to the kaak trolley spies
have a winsome glow when the sun
is skewed regardless of the sea's intentions.
Some roll their pants up to the knees
and others fall apart on xray, shoulders
and legs, tiny feet and the poor
sell square pieces of old film
so others might view the moon's silver slivers
rather than suffer the myth of going blind.

20.10.26

For an old friend.

This was shot like this, it has not been manipulated in any way. AI might be able to manufacture something like it but remember, it's in the name of the slop: ARTIFICIAL "intelligence".

19.10.26

Ode to the Man Who Invents Intellectual Property

When the scions arrive to plagiarize

the hem widths and planting depths,

remember to hide the tautologies

where no one thinks to look,

not in the drawers or under the sinks,

never under the sinks certainly not

in the socks, up higher.

Ever greedy and stupidly mean,

the scions might torture the females.

Plunge everything into the scum

bury it, don't burn and don't hesitate

to turn off the light and pretend

no one is home.

15.10.26

Zeroth

-In the museum,

everything is laid out neatly. - Jody Azzouni, The Lust For Blueprints

With just enough letters lights

and windows, that day

froze. It froze hard

the fights and promises

inside of it stopped

in an instant,

for an instant.

The hearts inside all the cages,

inside the cats and dogs, the

inertial moment of all

the right hand rules

of thermal equilibrium

in the fetuses there

La ilaha illallah

and the entire particles of space

and glaciers

played dead.

...I have to chuckle sometimes...people who ask those of us who practice poetry if 'they still write poetry'? Here's the thing, poets, those who practice 'poetry', never started writing it and never finish. Never finish writing new ones or elevating old ones to new heights. This one is brand new, hot off the press and is in response to a long lost friend I found the other day:

It's one of the friends that you haven't thought of since the day you waved from across the street. You never thought you'd be heading out of town for a while and somehow, through the ages they just get tucked away in the mind's eye.

Those guys were reaally hauling that day. So fast that entropy divested them of faces.

14.10.26

I invented the selfie. I also did not clean mirrors.

11.10.26

10.10.26

7.10.26

What About Mars?

No more problems says the package
the cure came in, no more
warning labels and the price tag
no longer legible. It began
with flashy children and fast cars
then people started talking
about the leftover stuff
after the move out,
wondered what would happen
to the crystal ball and Japanese flag.
Where to put Mars now?
Whose house next?

Riyadh, Night Souk in Batta. Batta was an area of Riyadh that packed in 1-200,000 "TCN" workers on any given Friday. TCN is an abbreviation for "third country national". All rights reserved MSwaid

We bought alot of fruit and veg that night. I only vaguely remember, much like the dream this picture appears to be.

The Goat Life is an astonishly beautiful movie and sadly, accurate during those times. The men in this photo could be characters in that must see, should see, why haven't you seen movie. I cannot speak for the situation now. I highly, highly recommend it.

All Rights Reserved MSwaid. Shot with Nikon FM SLR with 35mm lens, ultra bad supermarket quality slide film, probably Fuji.