| this is oh so blue A MAGAZINE OF FICTION, POETRY & MORE! |
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| this is black shadow |
| ZYGOTE IN MY COFFEE.COM |
| ISSUE #14 $O.OO |
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| July 2004 |
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| ZYGOTE IN MY COFFEE.COM |
| ***BIO*** Doug Draime, poet, short story writer, and playwright has been writing and publishing for many years. Recent chapbooks, "Slaves Of Harvest Harvest" (Indian Heritage Publishing, 2002). "Unoccupied Zone" (Pitchfork Press, 2004). His work has appeared in magazines, newspapers, and broadsides worldwide since 1969. Born in Indiana, he has lived in Pittsburgh, Chicago, West Germany, Los Angeles, and moved to Southern Oregon in 1981. |
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| © 2004 zygoteinmycoffee Ink. |
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| More Than The Alley |
| by Doug Draime |
| I fought in alleys as a kid, in the small town alleys of Vincennes and the city, steel- sot alleys of Pittsburgh, for no other reason than I had to fight. It was something unavoidable, destined. By in large I won the majority of them, which means nothing. I could have just as well lost most, and it would not have mattered It wasn’t the winning or the losing, that had nothing to do with it, just as words often have nothing to do with poetry. It was more than the battle, the alley, or the crowds taking perverse delight in the blood flying from adolescent faces, cracked bones and the possibility of serious injury. Something, some pure rage inside prodded me on, and I was always astonished after to find myself reasonably intact, having come through one of the most dangerous kinds of human interchange. There was never a fight in which I didn’t shake from a sickening deep gut fear, my hands trembling like a dumb unconsecrated nun. The swallowing of my fear was like choking down razor blades, but I would take a deep breath, swallow and swing hard. |