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Excerpt from The Island by Oscar d’Artois

A lot of my friends
are saying they just want to
write things for their friends
which i can relate to yes
i want to speak to
my friends in a secret voice
a language outside
language, straight from the void/womb
we all relate to
but what about trying to
bring the face of god
demonic tearing its way
back through the fabric
of reality, tear down
the scaffold, unveil
the ugly parts too, you know
i feel i haven’t
felt a real feeling in years


I’m trying to get
at something so obvious
yet out of my reach
but my best thoughts i forget
immediately
flaming trash heap of my mind
time to face the facts :
organic nut butters suck


sometimes, expensive
things are just worse & that’s that
i guess what is key
is to always remember
there is an island
an island of hopes & dreams
where the clouds look like
pictures of clouds on bright days
where the coconuts
taste like how you’d want them to
where death is on pause
where strangers hold hands & smile
where they lounge & bathe
a fortress of frolicking

About the Poet

Oscar d' Artois
Oscar d’Artois is a Franco-American writer, translator, and former yoga teacher born in Paris, France. He is author of the poetry collections Teen Surf Goth (Metatron, 2015) and The Island (Shabby Doll House, 2024), a book-length haiku. He lives mostly out of a suitcase.

Related Event

      • Oscar d’Artois will join writers Kristen Felicetti, Sebastian Castillo, Angelina Tang and Pride David in the Buffalo stop of the Escape the Internet Tour hosted by Lucy K. Shaw with Aidan Ryan and sponsored by Shabby Doll House Press at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 19th at Fitz Books and Waffles, 433 Ellicott St. in Buffalo. Books by all the authors will be available for purchase. The event is free and open to the public..

    The Poem of the Week feature is curated by literary legacy awardee R.D. Pohl.