‘some assembly necessary’
Jay Shifman (he, him) believes no one is free until we are all free. When he’s not creating beauty as a poet and writer, he’s photographing it in the world. His award-winning photography features vibrant colors, stark contrasts, and overt messages. You can find Jay documenting protests and the violent response from the police. He lives in South Philly with his primary partner/ wife, Lauren, with whom he runs Flashpoint Gallery and Community Space, and their dogs Nell and Crash.
some assembly necessary
senses of connection that trace the edges of intimacy and illusion . through shadow
or screen . the eye is the most deceptive organ in the body . what we see is reality
to us no matter how crazy they tell us we are . the eye finding a way to behold
longing projected across a distance , followed closely by the hand , which fails to
apprehend that touch is actually a subatomic repulsion of electrons . this biological
tension , how sometimes the more we grasp towards another—as we embrace the
hand of someone we truly love—at a quantum level we are pushing them away
from a scientific point of view . that concept of first impression applies also to the
electron , whose specific intent , whose content of character , is impossible to
measure without disturbing its personal space . the eyes that close in pain : 15/94
of a second . the time consumed in the twinkling of God’s eye , briefly , crushing
lamentations of sorrow like hands compressed to a fist of compacted rage , which
, metaphorically , imagines a striking similarity between a box of individually
wrapped chocolates and the emotional expand and contraction of the human heart.
the sticky-sweet crystal of their shattering
henry 7. reneau, jr. writes words of conflagration to awaken the world ablaze, an inferno of free verse illuminated by his affinity for disobedience. He is the author of the poetry collection, freedomland blues (Transcendent Zero Press) and the e-chapbook, physiography of the fittest (Kind of a Hurricane Press). His poetics are situated at the intersection of experimental modernist and autobiomythographic free verse. His work is published in Superstition Review; TriQuarterly; Prairie Schooner; Notre Dame Review; Punt Volat; The Ana; and Oyster River Pages. His work has also been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net.
