Cory Henniges
Current Resident
who resides in my apartment, though we have never met.
He’s away on important business, I imagine, as I collect his mail
from banks, preapproved credit, and internet providers.
A new café has opened across the street, he wouldn’t know.
It would have been the BBQ joint, or the Thai spot before that,
when he was here. I’d like to take him there.
I know, I shouldn’t rush him when he gets back
and he’ll need time with the mail stack and calls.
He will have so many questions for me.
And I’m sorry, I don’t know if his things are missing.
But we can share the cups and plates, he’s welcome
to anything in the fridge, of course can take the bed.
At the café, I’ll bring up sailing, and if he’s ever been.
I’ve always wanted to, but am afraid to try things new
by myself. I see the boats from our balcony.
That would be bliss. In the water brushed
gold by the sun. Sailing out with the current.
To fast forward to that present.
In memory of my sourdough starter: I am sorry.
Mix 150 grams of flour with 150 grams of water into a clean container and cover loosely for 24 hours. Each day, discard 200 grams and replace with equal parts flour and water. Wait to use your starter until at least Day 7 as the yeast needs time to cultivate and starve out the bad bacteria. When your starter doubles in size, you may refrigerate and feed once a week depending on frequency of use.
I
The clan of yeast overcame all other microbes.
The great feast would last generations.
The colony - an envy of all as far as the jar could see.
Hear the great belch of the god king in his hall.
The heavens answer his command with rain and grain.
His warriors laugh as his cup spills and he multiplies before them.
Hail god king! Conqueror, Lord of slaughter, fill the world with your cells.
II
Progress is measured through ingenuity and industry.
When each cell does their part, our culture thrives.
Think not on the savage lives of our past, but forward.
Rights for all cells born through the Senate’s actions.
Budding leave and extra rations
for those expecting their first mitosis.
How high we rise! Our engineers build, rebuild, redesign.
Each cycle advances towards perfection.
III
HUNGER SETS IN. BREAKING NEWS:
SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES
NEO-BARBARIANS STRIKE
A NEW GOD WITH DEMANDS?
THE GLUTEN MARKET HAS CRASHED.
The federal grain reserve has become acidic.
Experts predict it will soon sour.
No cell knows what happened.
IV
Repent and ferment!
We are made from Him.
The Grain Father has watched the gluttony,
the shameless sin,
endless reproduction.
Repent and ferment!
There is still time to fast.
the great cold has come.
Dream of sweet promised leaven.
Rotini, singularity, and somehow you
“Now we’ve come full circle” You say, with napkin folded,
purse in hand. A full circle from what? And how many circles
am I in now? When you return from the bathroom
will you complete a circle? Am I a complete circle
from the last time I ate roasted lamb or still traveling
to the next time I choose duck? How many circles
will end before this one? The galaxy interweaves
with a thousand orbs inside a thousand more.
Yesterday, I was a full circle from the previous year.
You could chart my location within Earth’s rotation
to a precise moment in orbit. But you didn’t mention it then.
Insignificant lines in time that can never really come back
and can never really connect. We are here again
but I am different. My scalp is a hair thinner, my belt
a notch wider. The cracked rows of skin when I smile
are deeper than last time. Rather we are spirals,
like the rotini stacked and entwined across your dinner plate.
Some sticking for just a moment, some locked in the groove,
or this one, yes this one, abandoned on the table cloth.
You come back, and see through my forehead
to where my mind hasn’t stopped. I fear
standing here would only make another turn.
That could loop into anywhere, but I hope
it ends with you.
Cory Henniges lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where his body drives a forklift while his mind travels. His previous work can be found in process revisions and machine operating instructions throughout factories in Wisconsin.
