James Knight

James Knight is a poet, artist, performer and publisher based in the UK. Publications include Cosmic Horror (Hem Press), Rites & Passages (Salò Press), Machine (Trickhouse Press) and Void Voices (Hesterglock Press). Website: www.thebirdking.com. Instagram/Threads: @jkbirdking BlueSky: @badbadpoet

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Cloud

just 400 yards (366m) from her garden sits a

large, windowless

building filled with

servers, cables, and

blinking lights

she hadn’t paid her HexServe subscription, so missed out on the opportunity

to upload her parents’ corpses

           as you enter, you’re aware of spectral reconstructions

of memories you’d rather forget

                                   it’s got something all over it, ectoplasm probably, maybe jism

                       penetrating your eyes                              

open a bloody window but there isn’t one

                                                I just want a quiet private       a quiet nostalgic reverie                                                        

is that too much

captured moments                                                    sticky happy times

                 glooping on me

the building hums like a vibrator                        tiny tremors disturb the plane

                                                  now with real blood

          Whither are they vanish’d?

she believes the construction of the building

            disrupted her private

            well,

                                    causing an excessive

build-up of sediment.

                                                         Ah, d’ya remember that? Fun times

a quiet                               in private

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