China, China, China

by ferret

The breeze of politics overtook our conversation

Lapping at our ears with its incessancy
Nagging at our eardrums
With the patter of rights and dispensations.

You talked about China and futurity
Your tongue sticking on that word
“Ascendance”
As if it were the name of some lover
You’d forgotten from long ago. Continue reading…

Lillian

by Renée R.

It’s that hour again.
Lunchtime in Shanghai, Bedtime in Harbourview Hospital…
Time to collect and recollect…
Memories, stories, the people we were, thought we were –
They flew out of you like a filibuster against death, against time.

Since you closed your eyes forever, went to a better place, passed away, met your maker, went to heaven, returned to the earth… and your favorite — kicked the bucket – I hear you more than ever before.

The last time I saw you (on my computer screen)
your gaze had dimmed,
a hungry snake intent on being.
You died with the verve that you lived: performing 100 yottaFLOPS until the end.
The bucket is probably orbiting an undiscovered Sun by now.

dead & buried – lost poems from a blue suitcase I

New Year Tea Ceremony

by D

We archive the rules of engagement,
boil water, warm pots.
The delicacy is done with waiting,
ready to be devoured.

Tea leaves us fortified
but knowing.

There is no maxim to fit,
no congress to draft new laws:

only our red bird hearts,
beating oolong stained
wings in fine bone cups.

A Letter for Li Peng

by ferret

Li Peng,

I know my parents told you that I won’t be coming on the class fieldtrip to the Expo because I’m sick, but it’s not true. You’re my best friend in the world, and I want you to know the truth about why I’m not coming. But please promise you won’t tell anyone.

I’m a wicked person. My parents keep telling me so, and I think that they’re probably right. But there’s this part of me that thinks they are wrong, and I’m not so wicked. This makes me more wicked. That’s the truth.

Do you remember the card for the Dark Woodland Elf? The one that Xiao Bai always plays? The character can make himself stronger than almost any other character, but only by sacrificing the trees which retain his power? He gets stronger, but it doesn’t last. I’m afraid I’m like that Dark Woodland Elf. My parents built me this forest, and they told me not to destroy it, but I want to tear it all down just the same.

Continue reading…

Xiao Wang’s Day at the Expo – A Field Trip Report

by S. C. Gordon

Name: Amelia Margaret Fieldman

Age: 16

Trip Report

My name is Amelia Fieldman, and I live in Gruenberg, Vermont, with my parents and my kid sister Lily. The trip co-ordinator from Swan Tours has asked me to write this report as part of the experience.

To be honest, I’m not really sure where to start. Lily is sitting beside me right now, scribbling away, but she’s much more eloquent than me, even though she’s only twelve. In any case, she sees the whole situation differently. For her it’s fiction – something she feels removed from, as if it had happened to someone else. For me it’s horribly real, and I hate it. If it was up to me we would never talk about it, but Mom and Dad wanted us to take the trip. Continue reading…

Illustrated Groupthink

a collaborative work by several drunken artists

Continue reading…

whaler’s lament

by W.M. Butler

the heart as an octopus

by Butler

Expo Groupthink – May 23rd

The funniest thing happened to me on Sunday. I woke up thinking about how hot mermaids are, and how much I would like to see one in a fight with a fox, with beautiful mermaid titties showing through skimpy mermaid tops. Guess what? My dream came true thanks to Susie Gordon – minus one sororal lesbian encounter. Check it check it out here.

Butler gave us a taste of things to come from his love as an octopus series of poems. The words speak for themselves. ’nuff said. We’ll get it posted asap alongside Ginger’s melancholy footwear love affair.

Dizzy D from Las V sent in not one but TWO submissions. Awesome! You know those contemporary video art installations you see in museums that make you scratch your head and say ‘what the fuck?’. Get ready for it. Plus an awesome poem with accompanying video/graphic.

Least and last was Bjorn and Nate’s collaborative effort with Filipino bartender extraordinaire Ray/Jerry and two American tourists whose names we didn’t catch. Sorry Hunter, I don’t know why you are wearing a skirt, or why you ran over Butler in a car, or how you ended up in bed with Bob and Mitch but I hope you enjoyed the circus. I am looking forward to hearing reader insights into this abstract masterpiece.

I assume you’ve all noticed the beautiful artwork montages featured at the top of our site. Big thanks to Art Director Johnathan Walters for that one. If you’ve got any questions or comments about artworks you see up there just click away or flush an email to j.walters@haliterature.com.

Next Groupthink will take place on Sunday, May 23rd. The theme….”Xiao Wang’s Day at the Expo”……Drop us an email at editor@haliterature.com if you’re interested in attending.