Exterminating Angel Press

Creative Solutions for Practical Idealists.

Exangel

Back Seat.

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by Barry Vitcov.

Before seat belts,
we rolled around on the back seat of the ’52 DeSoto,
a gray beast weighing thousands of pounds,
with a sawhorse bench filling the space
between the front and back seats,
made flat with blankets and sheets.
Dad wouldn’t turn on the radio or the heater,
insisting noise and warmth were unnecessary
when conversation, jackets and mittens would do.
Mom sat quietly staring out the window,
except when she announced a game:
I Spy…Animal, Vegetable, Mineral…
Make-a-Word from the last letter of the new word.
I was five, my sister three
with limited vocabulary.
Dad won most of the games
like a clever, smiling conjurer.
We entertained ourselves with coloring books
and stuffed animals acting out fantasies,
oblivious to speed
or the forces of a sudden stop.

The Moral of the Tale.

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by David Selzer. Tolstoy, unshriven, died from pneumonia at Astapovo – a busy provincial railway junction – in the station master’s house. The old man’s last days were a media sensation – much of the world’s press was there, and a film crew from Pathé News, Paris. In the November of 1910, Tolstoy, trying to […]

Six Haikus for America, 2023.

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by Sean Murphy.   Capital Ism How do we expect All that wealth to trickle down If we enforce laws? Windows of the Soulless Our eyes reveal all. So we spray Windex on them; Wonder why we’re blind. Whitey Pluribus Unum White lives do matter, That’s how our country was born: It takes a village. […]

if you’d rather watch.

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by Chris Farago. There is a bear in my house now, rummaging through cabinets in search of a snack. Good luck to you, I say— it’s all dehydrated protein powder and years-old jerky— I doubt there’s anything there you could make a meal out of. Do I feel sorry for the bear? I do, in […]

Add a Pinch of Pepper.

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by David D. Horowitz.   “But Uncle Jim can’t eat anything with nuts in…” “But I spent lots of dough and a full hour mixing and baking, and now…” “He’s extremely allergic to nuts: walnuts, almonds, peanuts, whatever. Some people with that allergy could die from ingesting them.” “It’s a great chocolate chip walnut cookie […]

ETSS Approval Process.

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by Jim Meirose. …the river relaxes this what this how yes it’s how the river relaxes the river the river river river relaxes the river relaxes relaxes the river relaxes the river relaxes down into into to ETSS support is a corporate imperative in the following areas; To pratfall the Manksie Augmentation of Beanertop support. […]

The Worst Disaster.

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by Bruce E. R. Thompson. What is the worst disaster that can befall a person? Plato gives the answer to that question. I have never heard a better answer, and, following the logic by which he reaches that answer, I believe he is unequivocally right. It isn’t a matter of opinion. His answer applies to […]

The Penultimate City (excerpted from “Boundless as the Sky”).

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by Dawn Raffel. Everything living and dead, solid and conjured, fruitful and not, has been wired together within and without this spectacular city in a feat of automation. Socket and plug. Tunnel and lock. Wine-dark sea and crenellated tower. Spray, wave, salt, root. Sailor, baker, mother, lover. Resin and sparkle. The apple and the hand […]

Distracted: A Short Play.

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by T.C. Eisele.   Characters Man at Computer Young Woman Young Man Woman’s Voice     Setting The living room/kitchen area of a one-bedroom apartment in New York City.  The kitchen is stage left. Stage right there is a couch and coffee table.  A little left of center stage (closer to the kitchen area) is […]

Monaghan’s Virtual Bar in the Time of Covid-19.

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by Tom Ball.   March 2020 I said to my lover, Jane, “I will write a novel of our times. I had written a number of sci-fi of flash fiction books, short story books and a few novels and now I am going to write my best novel in the mainstream.” And I said to […]