Middle American Literature

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Staying alive
In this city of cosmopolitan cattle, sprawling like a network of bulging veins or a patch of inflamed hair follicles ringing a rectum, every other road…
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Caleb Caudell
6
The punch out years
One of those April noons, fresh from days of rain, when the damp earth saturates the sky. Bottomless ocean without waves. Right before a shift, bracing…
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Caleb Caudell
5
I love science but I'm not in love with it
Started a new job the morning of the eclipse. Down to greenwood in my corolla, breaks groaning, about to give out. Every red light could be my last…
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Caleb Caudell
6
Awkward shapes of sluggish afternoons
Phlegm in throat feeling for weeks. Allergies, sinus infection, something more mysterious. Not every ailment has an entry in a book. Related to spring…
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Caleb Caudell
11
A chain of uneventful events
From Novelty: and other stories. Available here The air in the room was stale. Gus Bunson opened a window. With his back to his girlfriend Margaret he…
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Caleb Caudell
8

March 2024

A spitball in the straw of a cosmic jock
At the shop where I work two days a week, a vanilla latte costs 7 dollars. This time last year it was 6. Next year it will be 10. The year after you’ll…
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Caleb Caudell
8
As I hang drying
From Novelty: and other stories
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Caleb Caudell
4
The last man on the internet
What if they gave a platform and no one posted
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Caleb Caudell
8
Out on a limn
The earth clears the frozen crust from its eyes, kicks off its winter blanket. Late morning, new apartment. Light streams in like a pleasant memory. On…
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Caleb Caudell
1

February 2024

Checking in
Metafictional supplement to my last post
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Caleb Caudell
6
Haunted by hospitality
Studio apartments are jail cells where you’re the inmate and the guard at the same time. I had to let myself out for the night. I’m getting no sleep. My…
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Caleb Caudell
3
Taking stock
A moment of gratitude: secret police haven’t yet kicked me in the kidneys and thrown me in a stuffy basement. I’m also not working in a blood diamond…
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Caleb Caudell
2
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