Dragging His Beast Around The habit was structured, controlled, modulated— Architecture married to inspiration. Never too much—it was always too much. Gone in a stutter. Chasing God. You were not supposed to catch up. The cliché too painful. No choice but to be seen. There is risk in being seen. Beast seeping out by inches. Like yellow jackets oozing from the nest. You didn’t have to wait until life was not hard to be happy. You were going to outlast the buzz and swarming. Two coasts—your face. No ocean on either shore, yet still an island. Made lethargic by the needle. You circled a thing that wasn’t there until you forced it into existence. You knew that killing it would be a sin. But you broached the firewall and shrank to fit in a small place. Belief leaks when you chase chaos. And you can get caught up short.
About the Author: Rick Christiansen is a former corporate executive, stand-up comedian, actor and director. His work is published or forthcoming in MacQueen’s Quinterly, Oddball Magazine, Muddy River Poetry Review, Stone Poetry Journal, The Raven’s Perch, The Rye Whiskey Review, As It Ought to Be Magazine, WINK Magazine and other journals, magazines and anthologies. He is the co-host of SpoFest and a member of The St. Louis Writers Guild. He lives in Missouri near his eight grandchildren.
Image Credit: Chase Dimock “Rusty Chains” (2022)
As It Ought To Be 