new from above/ground press: ALAS & ALACK, by Stan Rogal

ALAS & ALACK
Stan Rogal
$5

My problem is I’m one of those soft machines that sometimes explodes

for no apparent reason.

My problem is I’m futile; floating in a void.

My problem is I’m counter-productive to the existing order.

My problem is mind the gap.

My problem is your basic Existential Angst & its accompanying

pathetic hang-dog attitude.

My problem is fear of my own existence (if, indeed, I do exist,

outside myself). [Italics mine]

My problem is I’m an accident constantly happening.

My problem is I’m a Zombie flick that lacks teeth & faints at

the sight of blood, especially my own.

My problem is I lack nomenclature.

My problem is I’ve seen the best minds of my generation

destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked…

My problem is, okay, I only wish I’ve seen the best minds of my

generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked…

My problem is I sing the body electric, though slightly off-key or in the wrong key

altogether & what’s it to you?

My problem is they have a name for the winners of the world &

I want a name when I lose.

My problem is I’m on a mission from God.

My problem is the devil made me do it.

My problem is I’d walk a mile for a Camel.

My problem is is it live or is it Memorex?

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
March 2020
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Stan Rogal lives and writes in relative obscurity in the hamlet known as Toronto. He has been rumoured to have published widely and is the apparent author of 25 books (6 novels, 7 story and 12 poetry) and several chapbooks (most with above/ground press). He is a former Master bowler and retired dart champion. 

This is Rogal’s fifth above/ground press chapbook, after In Search of the Emerald City (1997), “THE CELEBRITY RAG: Opá” (STANZAS #44, March 2006), All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace (2004) and muscle memory (2018).

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; in US, add $2; outside North America, add $5) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9. E-transfer or PayPal at at rob_mclennan (at) hotmail.com or the PayPal button at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com