Featured Poem: “Self-portrait of the artist as a Zombie” by Bryan Byrdlong

Self-portrait of the artist as a Zombie

But then again, there’s the painting, the graffiti of a zombie in black acrylic

On an abandoned building by the old home along with the phrase, Still Alive—

I used to jog by its form mirroring function, its derelict branded on derelict,

Its meta slowly renovated, transformed from an empty shell into a nest for bees,

A brewery with honey, nectar, the tagged zombie painted over with white. But still

Within, the folks leering as I ran toward home; my mother not knowing if

I would return alive in that city, that country, that time, another kind of ruin,

Threatening to consume me if I stop—In one draft, I do and the abandoned

Building turns me into an abandoned building filled with insects—And yet,

In the final frame, a boy who looks like me is standing in the doorway, while

A woman who resembles my mother jerks her hand away from his face

As it returns to her—Still alive, but cold.

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