“I’m never first.”
written while watching Greener Grass (2021)
Made Clear
after Upstream Color (2013)
The thief seems to cake the larva.
The thief uses elaborate distractions.
The thief manipulates, liquidates rare coins.
The thief is asleep with worms.
The thief eats a pig farmer.
The thief samples the daughter’s screams.
The thief transfers a worm from a kid to a pig.
The thief thinks the police are gone.
The thief links transfusions.
The thief sleeps in shifting beats.
The thief eats the beta.
The thief heard he’s infertile.
The thief worms the piglets.
The thief parasites the pig.
The thief sacks the river.
The thief travels from gun to tub.
The thief piglets the rotting blue.
The thief bursts, waters the wounds.
The thief farms the thieves.
The thief eats the mumbling swimmer.
The thief performs a dream featuring a table.
The thief is aware of the apparent.
The thief is a sampled collapse.
The thief is a box of drugs that becomes indigo with the sun.
The thief is a remodeled pig.
The thief is a kid, trying his best.
The thief is believed to have drowned.
The thief infects his drugs. The thief eats the fnal child and skillfully orchids the remains.
Abstract Film Trivia
answers available upside down
Benjamin Niespodziany is a Chicago-based writer whose work has appeared in the Wigleaf Top 50, Booth, Puerto del Sol, Sixth Finch, Conduit, HAD, and others. His debut poetry collection was released in 2022 through Okay Donkey and his novella of connected stage plays is out now with X-R-A-Y. While he’s yet to win, he’s been nominated multiple times for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Microfiction. You can find more at neonpajamas.com.
JMWW 