Category: FEATURED

Failing Forward by Bogdan Dragos

j re crivello's avatarMasticadoresAfrica

Mafalda by Quino

in high school he repeatedly told her that he was saving himself for marriage and eventually she left him alone but after graduation she approached him yet again and this time he told her that he was focusing on his career as a writer they both had their dreams and they kept dreaming and fighting to accomplish them, insisting and getting up from every defeat failing forward as some would say It took decades but eventually both of their dreams came true they were married and he still hadn’t struck a deal with any publisher but made a relatively okay income self-publishing he wrote for a very narrow niche very trashy erotic fiction and his lovely wife helped him with inspiration and research “C’mon,” he urged her, “moan a bit harder, cry some too.” she did as she was told as he went around her with the…

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11

sometimes I think I’m just too good for you by Bogdan Dragos

He jumped off the building and the metallic wings carried him high towards the clouds where others like him swam in absolute bliss but then something hit his head and he woke up turned around in bed and realized there was blood trickling from his eyebrow The girl besides him was holding a stapler in […]

sometimes I think I’m just too good for you by Bogdan Dragos
12

open casket funeral by Bogdan Dragos

j re crivello's avatarMasticadoresAfrica

what would be the reason to have an open casket funeral? Why should the living see the dead? He addressed the questions to no one in particular but his dead wife answered from the picture on the wall "Don't you wanna see me, darling?" "Not like that, I don't," he said. "That's why I have your portrait. So I don't have to look at your dead body in the casket. But your mom wouldn't understand..." "Darling, I think you're the one who doesn't understand. And I think it's time we talk about your therapist." "What about my therapist?" "You tell me. You tell me why did she have to tell you that she's single now and looking to settle. I thought she was supposed to help you cope with the premature death of your wife, not tell you her problems." "Dear, please..." "And one more thing. I don't like the…

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2

how can you be such a monster? by Bogdan Dragos

j re crivello's avatarMasticadoresAfrica

he spent four weeks
away from his family
in a rented apartment
somewhere on
the outskirts
of town

he told them that
he needed this
he was a writer
needed to focus on his work
conducting his research
undistracted

his little girl would call
from time to time
asking daddy to hold his
phone against his forehead
while she made a kissing sound
on the other line

very wholesome
except he lied about
holding the phone
against his forehead

“How can you be
such a monster?”
asked the naked prostitute
sitting on the edge of his bed

“Shut up,” he said
tossed his phone on the desk
and unbuckled

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43

more than enough to explain by Bogdan Dragos

j re crivello's avatarMasticadoresAfrica

there was nothing
to explain here

the man’s wife told them
everything they
needed to know

Her husband wrote poetry

Yes, that would be enough
to explain why
he cut off his penis
and tried to use it
as a pen
before collapsing
on the desk,
blood pooling
at his feet below

Being a poet was
more than enough
explanation for
what he did

She didn’t need
to tell the paramedics
that her husband
had been looking
for inspiration

“He’s a poet,”
was more than
enough

They understood

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35

Two Bullets

.'s avatarThe Yard: Crime Blog

By Bogdan Dragos

she came out of the bathroom with
the pink towel wrapped
around her and found
him sprawled on the bed

very thoughtful

He held in his right hand
two bullets
that he constantly rubbed against each
other with a kind
of obsession

She jokingly said, “So, one for me
and one for you?”

“No,” he said. “One for everyone else in
the world but you and I.”

“Haha, nice,” she said. “Anyway, why do you
always carry those bullets
around?”

“Eh, no particular reason,” he lied

The bullets carried all the
reasons in the world. He
carried them in his pocket ever since seventh
grade when he was mere
steps away from using them on his
bullies

But then
one day
she just showed up and was nice
to him
and the depression became a little less heavy,
just enough to be carried through
the years of…

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32

The great one by Bogdan Dragos

j re crivello's avatarMasticadoresAfrica

His name was always linked to the term elusive and he was universally acknowledged as a brilliant writer and an enchanted poet. And the day came when his little apartment reeked of rotting flesh and the authorities had to break his door down.

There was no family to inform but the whole country was now his family and there would be no problem regarding the burial. Oh, he would go with a ceremony that was bound to become national event. But luckily for the authorities the media didn’t smell the rotting yet. The four cleaners who sealed the apartment and entered to perform the expertise called themselves big and biggest fans of the great, late writer.

“Can you believe this?” one of them said. “We’re alone here with, dare I say it, unpublished manuscripts of The Great One. Oooh, I’m tingling just thinking about it.”

“God, look at this room…

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12

The New Guy

New feature in The Yard: Crime Blog
ヽ(´ー｀)ﾉヽ(´ー｀)ﾉヽ(´ー｀)ﾉ

.'s avatarThe Yard: Crime Blog

By Bogdan Dragos

there was a new guy in the park
among the homeless

He arrived just after the mayor had
eradicated all
the tents and improvised huts

and it was easy to spot him
He was the one who
always had a book in his hand, always
reading

“Check out the new guy,” they
said. “An intellectual. Heh, hey buddy,
what you reading that for? Not like
you gonna get a degree that’ll take
your ass outta here anytime soon. Haaahahah!”

He was reading his own poems
from a time when
he was young and his dreams were
still alive

Today nothing was alive
but misery itself

(Bio: Bogdan Dragos supervises casinos for a gambling company, working twelve-hour shifts locked in a dark office full of TV monitors. There he mostly daydreams and writes poems and stories. He also manages a poetry blog at bogdandragos.com
He has a book…

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20

Not Ready to Join the Stars Just Yet

Thank you to The Yard: Crime Blog for featuring this one
*⁂((✪⥎✪))⁂*

.'s avatarThe Yard: Crime Blog

By Bogdan Dragos

the girl with burnt face and
faded eyes
would call out to him

She would call out to him in those nights
of wandering alone around the
town
as a way to combat insomnia

She was barefoot
and wore but a simple nightgown
and if he got close enough
she would reach for his hand

caress it a few times
while staring him in the eyes
with her eyes that looked like painted
marbles

Then she would give a nod
and ask him to follow

All the way up that unfinished building
all the way up to the ninth floor
all the way to the margin
all the way to the corner

To watch the stars

But her eyes weren’t looking towards the sky
They were looking down at the lights
below

And every night she would jump down
to join the stars
and he wouldn’t follow

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11

Green Cotton Candy

.'s avatarThe Yard: Crime Blog

by Bogdan Dragos

from 07:30 in the morning and until
09:00 he stands by
the clothes store
and stares at his image in the gray window

He’s wearing a green suit
that now looks kinda brown and feels
in the same time
heavy with accumulated dirt
and light with missing patches

The people pass by him and look either
at their phones or away

At 09:30 he departs from the clothes store
and paces towards the
metro station
where he’ll spend the remainder of the day
playing the accordion for
uninterested ears

Still, some would toss
a coin or two in his hat. Out of mercy
or simply because they
were bothered by the change in their pockets

When the sun sets outside
he emerges from the underground
weighting his earning in one hand

He has a quick pace
despite never eating and never sleeping

The cotton candy stand is…

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4

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