by Ben Nardolilli

Improper signal protocols, an intake port must be blocked
or the track has worn thin, kicking myself to try a restart in safe mode
and the jam persists, though the internal tray is in order,
and the wheels are clean, red lights are flashing, can anyone see them?

Flicking on and off reveals an internal communication error
blocking needed access, fingers hover ready for typing, then sputter
across the board as permission after permission is denied,
memory overflow…the manual says to consult the temperature gauge

Removing, replacing, and reseating to the bathroom,
forehead bounces from ceramic tiles to metallic walls, degrees drop,
but no emergency: the wait operation has not timed out,
the syntax of the end is still distant, and no file is too corrupt to absorb

Alimentary Affinities

by Ben Nardolilli

Between us, the only currency we share
Are glances, I carry a hope that more will be exchanged,
We are certainly close enough for more
To happen in this gallery between bathroom and bar

Her name is a mystery, her background
A bundle of a thousand possible stories, each one equal
In possibility to explain her presence
Here in the city where we have briefly come together

I am an unknown composition to her,
Among the blue frame of the walls, I can seem a myth,
A neighboring legend among the confines,
It appears she is satisfied to leave me undebunked

One thing is certain, her secret overlaps
With the one I carry to this part of the establishment,
We both love beer and are shaken loose by it,
Bringing us into overlapping orbits around the porcelain

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Ben Nardolilli is currently an MFA candidate at Long Island University. His work has appeared in Perigee Magazine, Door Is a Jar, Red Fez, Danse Macabre, The 22 Magazine, Quail Bell Magazine, Elimae, The Northampton Review, Slab, and The Minetta Review. Follow his publishing journey at mirrorsponge.blogspot.com.