2015.01

I had to work to make 2015 occur (slathered [as it
was] in all that booze and lubricant) even while we decided,
collectively, to go back to work. After the decadence 
of early-contemporaneity, I had just wanted to sit quietly

in the corner and reflect on my own oeuvre, my own applause.
So I had to work all year to get inspired by United States
popular culture; the alternative is nihil unbound. (Otherwise
we will all just stop close reading in the new year; or worse,

ignorantly claw at one another’s ineptitude.) And
here we are, always again, regardless of the time.
It’s why we reset our archives along with our watches.
We are sleepy for the motor miles we should have traversed.

We will be better tomorrow. We have no choice.
We have to be different than previous heroes.

Bradley J. Fest
07 28 16