‘They Live Was Once a Movie’
Photographer Henry Vinicio Valerio Madriz
They Live Was Once a Movie
You pause over the concrete floor, where a dust
mote drifts just enough to suggest intention. You wonder
whether beneath it there is a lily pond, waiting for
compliance. One step forward, a small faith. On nights like
these, you understand the need for such arrangements:
the lily pond, the firefly picturesque, blooming and blooming
on schedule. These are not luxuries
so much as survival aids. A chair becomes
necessary only once you sit.
When instructed to imagine beauty, the
standard issue landscapes appear: rolling hills,
an implied horizon. No one mentions the lapis
blue of a laundromat at night, the machines
breathing steadily, the floor humming with
borrowed patience. This omission feels
intentional. Beauty, it seems, must arrive without
quarters.
Later, you learn it is better to notice when
the textile machine shuts off.
Silence is
instructional and allows you to prepare for the end
of quota,
to gather what is damp but finished, to avoid
appearing surprised. There is a technique to
this: timing, posture, casual competence.
Remember, then. Remember to pay for the dry
rose bush with three nickels. There is no sense in breaking a
Benjamin for something already committed to withering. The
transaction completes itself and you take what you can carry.
Paul Potts (b. 2007) is a poet from Oklahoma. He began writing poetry in September of 2024, after recommendation from a teacher. His style often weaves narrative imagery with observational detail to transform private moments and fleeting observations into meditations on philosophy and strangeness. You can find his poetry in The Louisville Review, Rowayat, The Words Faire, Wingless Dreamer, and Lips Magazine.
Born in Atenas, Costa Rica, 1969, Henry Vinicio Valerio Madriz is a teacher -English Teaching and Linguistics and Literature. Photography lover. He has published poems, short stories, and photographs, both online and print (in the USA, Canada, UK, India, Philippines, Pakistan, Germany, Palestine, Israel, and Nigeria). Shortlisted in Voice of Peace: 1st Intercontinental Poetry And Short Story Anthology 2021, The League of Poets. He got an ‘Honourable Mention’ in Dark Poets Prize II, 2024. He is the Winner of the Literary Cocktail Magazine Enticing Shutterbug Award 2024 for photography. He is also the Winner of The LoveQuest: A Celebration of Love 2025 poetry competition, under The Wordsmith Magazine, Pakistan. https://www.facebook.com/henry.valerio.58/
