Prolit

a literary magazine about money, work, & class

____sheet

I don’t know why
I cannot ____. why the
urge stops any every
time, why words
come but drudge
does not, why
the mind is weaker
than the ____ unutterable.
why only the thoughts
come with no sleep,
drifting on rotten wood
throbbing beats of
failure.

easy, my co____er aims her
ground tortillion fingertips.
once you get through
the nerves there is no pain.

the red glowing cigar stumps, they
pound me like the blacksmith’s hammer
an over____ed coin
for each eye.


Hal Y. Zhang

Hal Y. Zhang spends all her hard-earned legal tender on cat food the cat doesn't even like. She writes at halyzhang.com.