by Tony Schanuel
The Words Not Included in This Poem
The self is no-self, but mostly a corpus of
attempts to construct a self. The chasm’s in the
loss of rock the water takes, but down which
darkened gorge? Maybe I is a pastiche, maybe
this isn’t my life, and I’m really living in a
Manhattan flat with three cats and six sofas.
Some words, I think, fail to mean anything.
This sentence, for instance, is about everything,
but then again, it’s not. This sentence has five
words. This one has four. This goes without saying.
This is true. This is easier said than done. This
is Tuesday. This is a death sentence. This is
context. This spells word. This final sentence
is only a sentence while you are reading.
Matt Cariello’s most recent book, The Empty Field, was published in 2022 by Red Moon Press. His first two collections of poems, A Boat That Can Carry Two and Talk were published by Bordighera Press. He’s had stories, poems, haiku, and reviews published in Bennington Review, Voices in Italian Americana, Poet Lore, Ovunque Siamo, Evening Street Review, Modern Haiku, Frogpond, The Heron’s Nest, The Long Story, Indiana Review, The Ekphrastic Review, Italian Americana, Modern Poetry Quarterly Review, Typehouse, Sheila-Na-Gig and The Journal. He’s currently a senior lecturer in the English department at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.
Tony Schanuel is an award-winning photographer and visual artist who has fused a professional background in photography, digital technology, and painting and mark making to create fine art that transcends those mediums. His work has been featured in Digital Imaging Magazine, Computer Graphic Magazine, Wild Heart Journal, St. Louis Design Magazine, and is a featured artist in Cyber Palette and Extreme Graphics, two books showcasing digital artists and their work. He has exhibited at the Florence Biennale and his art is held in private and corporate collections including the Fine Arts Museum of Houston permanent photographic collection. http://www.schanuelphoto.com/.