A PRETZEL NAMED NEMESIS by Paul Edward Costa

The trick is to act before matter has set,

harder since you never know

and that takes an arrogance

needing balance with awareness

if it’s not to create

a rising mistake instead of, say, a pretzel,

and yet, I’m enticed by the possibilities

of what I’ll find

if I keep digging,

keep contorting dough in on itself,

into snacks,

into subatomic forms,

into symbols that, when heated

give birth to hexes,

into the constructed golem

that breaks out of an oven when leavened

and smashes the planet’s bone-filled shell

as delusional denizens

gather in their final moments,

chanting, weeping, and begging the question

couldn’t you have just baked a pretzel,

instead of divine retributions?

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Paul Edward Costa is a poet, spoken word artist, teacher, and former Poet Laureate (Mississauga, 2019-2021). He's published in journals such as Blank Spaces Magazine, Purely Liminal Magazine, and Synchronized Chaos Magazine. His current poetry collection "Vigils of the Night Office" was published by DarkWinter Press. He's featured at poetry series such as Art Bar Poetry, the Poetry Open Mic in Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, VerseDeli, and the The Victoria Poetry Project. He currently organises Toronto's Outer Haven Poetry series.

IG: @paul.edward.costa

Twitter: @paul_e_costa

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