Map Literary: A Journal of Contemporary Writing and Art
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    • Craig Foltz, "Without Stigma"
  • Nonfiction
    • Martha Wiseman, "Loose Ends"
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    • Kristina Moriconi, "Still Looking"
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    • Cal Freeman, "Loosestrife"
    • W.F. Lantry, "The Strange Beauty of the Unfamiliar"
    • Michael Roloff, "Accretion"
    • Andrew Sunshine, "John Hancock's John Hancock"
    • Diane Payne, "3 micro memoirs"
    • Luc Sante, "Flesh and Bone"
    • Isobel O'Hare, "Failure: A Love Letter"
    • Melissa Wiley, "Barbed Wire Fence"
    • Ashley Wilkinson, "fractional distillation"
  • Art
Picture


John Loughlin

THINK TANK

My wheel fell off. I hit my funny bone
And the day commenced. Foul water swamped
The basement. The earliest anyone can be out
Is next Tuesday. There hasn’t been a rainbow
Sighted in over a year. Oil wants out of its tanker.
The captain smells of vomited beer.
A thousand white birds turn sticky black.
Bees fly off in droves. I don’t think they’re
Coming back. There’s an infographic online
That addresses the most popular theories.
I read an article that claimed we’re starting
To grow actual eyes in the back of our heads.
I would have guessed gills, anything
To steel ourselves for another round of attacks.
Had performance issues with my spouse,
Her understanding just made it worse. 
The dentist hit a nerve. The trophy wine is corked.
Your grandmother invented the spork
But patent lawyers took her for a ride.
All that money should be rightfully yours.
The door feels warm to the touch.
Try not to think about it too much.
Last night I dreamed my teeth were coming apart.
The X-ray shows a worrisome blotch.
The underdogs are humiliated on the field.
Many that day renounce the sport.
Many don’t know this, but the Titanic had
A sister ship; she also sank. Her name eludes me now.
The search party is never heard from again.
Armed guards are refusing new patients.
Dial 911 if you want to hear a racist joke.
Our hero cuts the wrong colored wire. They’ve never
Heard your name back at headquarters.
Your tap water runs a shade of rust.
Your childhood’s a planet of dust.
The poem you’re reading combusts.





Picture
John Loughlin works in Business Development for a Fortune 500 in Chicago’s Loop. He lives with his wife and daughter in the NW suburbs. His poems can be found in Anti-, Drunken Boat, Forklift, Ohio, and other journals.


published by
The Department of English
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
The William Paterson University of New Jersey
Copyright © 2012-2022 Map Literary
Map Literary

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  • About
    • Masthead
    • Submissions
    • Rachel Wetzsteon Chapbook Award
    • NJ High School Writing Contest
    • In Print
    • Subscribe
    • Links
    • Internship Opportunity
    • WPU MFA
  • Poetry
    • Richard Ryal
    • Sherwood Anderson
    • Mark DeCarteret
    • Dennis Hinrichsen Poetry
    • Daniel Biegelson
    • Natan Last
    • Jim Daniels Poetry
    • Michael Chang
    • D E Steward
    • Benjamin Paloff Poetry
    • David Dodd Lee
    • Isabelle Doyle
    • Kathleen Heil
    • Leonard Kress
    • Lauren Tess
    • Cesca Janece Waterfield
    • Billy Cancel Poetry
    • Scott Minar
    • Greg Glazner
    • Bruce McRae
    • Maureen Thorson
  • Fiction
    • On Experimental Fiction
    • Mark Cassidy, "How I Met My Wife"
    • Emily Trachtenberg, "Plum"
    • Hector Donovan-Gonzalez
    • Christopher Linforth, "Zia"
    • Jenessa Abrams, "You Never Wish That Upon Anyone"
    • Eros Livieratos, "On Feeling"
    • Halsted M. Bernard, "Your Hands"
    • Justin Meckes, "The Gash"
    • Reb Livingston, from "Bombyonder"
    • Craig Foltz, "Without Stigma"
  • Nonfiction
    • Martha Wiseman, "Loose Ends"
    • Jan Jolly, "Through My Father's Glasses"
    • Kristina Moriconi, "Still Looking"
    • Wm. Anthony Connolly, "IGY"
    • Cal Freeman, "Loosestrife"
    • W.F. Lantry, "The Strange Beauty of the Unfamiliar"
    • Michael Roloff, "Accretion"
    • Andrew Sunshine, "John Hancock's John Hancock"
    • Diane Payne, "3 micro memoirs"
    • Luc Sante, "Flesh and Bone"
    • Isobel O'Hare, "Failure: A Love Letter"
    • Melissa Wiley, "Barbed Wire Fence"
    • Ashley Wilkinson, "fractional distillation"
  • Art