i bought a super secret studio cottage i installed a large microscope in the skylight and large magnifying glasses on the windows i really hope someone is watching, and they can choose how closely they want to look it’s tricky to parse through myself from the inside out, climbing off the page when i whisper what are the wisps of, trailing behind? look ma no stanzas! but sometimes mom has to blink, has to sleep, so i stare at myself in the bathroom mirror until i hear her alarm goes off at 5. don’t you want to see the trinkets on my dresser? my fridge magnets? why did they tell me over and over that my Attention is not the full crowd? when they don’t even know i can mimic a mob; how else would i get anything done? i always host a flock, it’s a matter of behavior. my big beautiful Attention is a giant plane i am trying to fly. i ration fuel not because i can but that i do not wish to land.
Spectacle
Ashley Gilland is a writer, musician, and multimedia artist from Missouri currently pursuing her MFA at UW Bothell. Her work is published in Dishsoap Quarterly, Haven Speculative, Quail Bell Magazine, and The Waxed Lemon, among others. When not writing poetry and philosophical flash fiction, she also loves composing music and embroidering mixed media art projects. Find her music on Spotify and Bandcamp, her art on Instagram (@pocketsnailart), and her tweets at @earlgreysnail.