Marissa Ranello has absolute dedication is to the small presses which publish her, and consistently make her shine like a cubic zirconia in the rough. You can check out her literary zine: http://antipatico.tk/ or drop her a line at mailto:MarissaRanello@hotmail.com?subject=Email%20from%20your%20EastVillagePoetry.com%20page.

 

 

"Nature"

This substance is unlike any
New Jersey chemical explosion I've known.
My pug nose does not mind
that it's pungent marriage is void of waste.
It lingers in my city born lungs.
It dangles from a weighted hook; prey
to my carcinogenics--it grows all around me.
© May, 2004

"Ogni Ieri"

Every yesterday, we reflect
upon ourselves
and hang
from the literary
umbilical cord, waiting
to receive
that stinging
paper cut
from the elitist
masses.
© June, 2004

"What I heard"

bad complexion
passive
aggressive
tendencies
she's a
cuckoo's
egg.
© June, 2004

"Taking Extra Precaution"

It was possible to summarize my behavior in one word: Irrational. In all that was false, the bloody shell in which I hid to cover the truth--alcoholism.

It is most annoying--but often true--that
the bleeding alcoholic who needs to show
self-discipline most, has the least opportunity
to acquire sobriety.

Sometimes when I did my very best drinking,
I became withdrawn, sometimes hysterically
overestimated, and most oftenly depressed.

Sometimes when I did my very best drinking,
I became insecure, sometimes overly cautious,
dismembering the rational decisions of the person
lurking in my bloody shell.

The moral here, for you
and me, is striking enough.
Only insert one
tampon at a time
while inebriated.
© 2004

"Passive Responses"

Inactivity is a strawberry-red-swirl
painted sheet-rocked wall, blemished
by memories of passing furniture.

Hyperactivity is a caffeinated-liquid-eye
liner wearing whore, tarnished
by dreams of inactivity.
© April, 2004

"Unlike Bees and the British, moths do not have a queen."

I don't want to wait
for the moths
to come and taper
my pants, anymore.
© April, 2004

"Requiem of Aversion"

Waxed siren burns fast in mind
arresting thoughts of yesterday.

Clouds set in, crying acid tears.
In red vinyl pants, she cowers on the corner.

Wet, she emulates a fruit roll up
stuck to a lamp post.
© March, 2004

"Cerebral Blood Flow"

My head is in flames.
Anxiety interferes with rational thought,
feeding the malnourished fire within me.
Words are spoon fed into my ears
by people who aren't there.
© April, 2004

"Sixty Sloppy Seconds"

In a New York minute, a new tRiBeCa gallery will open
and a mom & pop store will go out of business.

In a New York minute, an artist will sell his painting
and a bicycle messenger will be hit by a moving vehicle.

In a New York minute, students will gather for world peace
and a child from the Bronx will be shot by a stray bullet.

In a New York minute, Michael Bloomberg will get a trim
and Rudy Giuliani will find more hair in the drain.

In a New York minute, a street performer will make five dollars and a homeless man will freeze to death.

In a New York minute, fifty tourists will photograph the Statue of Liberty and Governors Island will remain unacknowledged.

In a New York minute, one hundred pigeons will defecate in Battery Park and two hundred people will lose their jobs.

In a New York minute, a Brooklyn family will move to Staten Island and a Staten Island family will move to New Jersey.

In a New York minute, a couple will be married in a Catholic Church and a Rabbi will discover anti-semetic graffiti has been written on a cinegog.

In a New York minute, a celebrity will purchase a two million dollar necklace and a single mother will pick up her welfare check.

In a New York minute, a family will purchase a purebred puppy and two hundred unwanted dogs will be euthanized.

In a New York minute, I will dive into the Hudson River's obscurity and everyone who knows I cant' swim will watch me drown
© May, 2004

"Spirit Woes"

We stumble blindly
through hallucinations
of the dead
and hope for

just
one
moment

they are not
disappointed
nor watching us
masturbate
© May, 2004

"Halcyon Vagina"

She told him
the secretions
from her vagina
were fortified
with all kinds
of natural plant
extracts.

downward.
she pulled him.
legs spread.
all too eager grin.

he turned away.

later, while she
slept--he moistened

his fingers
with her fortifying
lubrication
and applied it
to his work
related
injuries.
© June, 2004