clout hound curses
may your takes be memed. may you deeply identify with a brand. may the brand of your heart become subject to Discourse. may your dumb finger blur the edge of every meticulously composed candid. may a big ass FREE! manifest upon everything you’ve gained through generational wealth. may each day a different person forget your name causing you to ruminate over weaknesses in your social strategy calculations. may your hyper-curated Statement Commodities at random intervals shout like a 1930s news crier the embarrassing memory that causes involuntary whole-body cringe. may you be perceived.
queries for the inner oracle
q: don’t we all shower in the dark? don’t we all sing against unseen glass, calling up utopian selves whose bodies never curled insectile in the gravities of moments? don’t we run warm down our own legs to swirl the drain?
a: honest are the bruises. in the dark, under the water, come clean: shed the pulp of fleshes, breach the teeth you need.
Jason Baltazar is a proud Salvadoran American, originally from the Appalachian corner of Maryland. He is a high school dropout, repentant former illustrator for the retail fashion industry, and currently teaches in the English Department at James Madison University. He is grateful to have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best Small Fictions, and Best of the Net in multiple genres. You can find his work online by checking out his website: www.jasonbaltazar.com. His favorite revenge story is Jayro Bustamante’s La Llorona because no one is untouchable and it’s never too late.
