by Judith Terzi
“There goes the gluten-intolerant vote.”
-Guest editor Joobin Bekhrad
“Goodbye, says the fox. Here is my secret…One sees only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”
The Little Prince, Antoine Saint-Exupéry
We do have baobabs, little man. We call them secrets, & they spread like baobabs. What are secrets? Believe me, they’re unbelievable. Very, very bad. We’re trying to take them out so fast before the planet goes boom, boom, boom. Now put your hands together & clap for me, little man. Clap, clap, clap. No, I won’t play with you. 55 plus 29 plus 18 plus 20 plus 28 equals 270. 11 plus 16 plus 13 plus 14 plus 29 equals 270. Am I counting stars, little man? Hey, I love stars. Love stars. Tremendous bodies. Tremendous. Bodies. What is 270? It’s the invisible, little man. The invisible. I’m counting the invisible. Many people say the invisible is visible is invisible. I don’t know, many people say, say, people say. We’re gonna find the invisible & see what’s going on. Believe me, we’ll fix the invisible, we’re gonna fix it, it’s gonna be amazing, trust me. Amazing. Many people say, say, say. Oh, you like my funny red hat? I take it off when someone cheers me. I’m taking it off right now, so put your little hands together & clap for me. Clap, clap, clap. No, I already said it, I won’t play with you. Won’t play. I’m taking it off, putting it on, taking it off, putting it on, taking it off, putting it on. Off, on, off, on, off, on…Now clap, clap, clap, little man. You say we both have hair the color of wheat? Color of wheat. Tremendous color. Color. Many people love wheat. #Ilovewheat.
Judith Terzi’s poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in journals such as Atlanta Review (International Publication Prize, 2015), Caesura, Raintown Review, Spillway, Unsplendid, and in anthologies such as Malala: Poems for Malala Yousafzai and Wide Awake: The Poets of Los Angeles and Beyond. If You Spot Your Brother Floating By is her latest chapbook from Kattywompus Press. Her poetry has been nominated for Best of the Net and Web.
