The Art of Tetman Callis

the last of the godslonely bastardnot content to create one batch of stalwarts prostrate in fear and hunger and worshiphe created two morean unholy trinity of religions to fight for ages over which of them is daddy’s favorite and now he’s dyingbut being a god he’s taking his sweet time about itand taking as many […]

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headline in this morning’s paper—firefight erupts in fallujahas though a firefight were some phenomenon such as a thunderstormor a volcano or an earthquake or a plaguesome terrifying disease which is true true also that headline writersare constrained by the amount of space they must fill on a pageand the amount of time they can spend […]

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“An ugly person considereth himself handsomer than others until he sees his own face in the mirror. But when he sees his own ugly face in the mirror, it is then that he perceiveth the difference between himself and others. He that is really handsome never taunts anybody. And he that always talketh evil becometh […]

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we’re not going to do a briefcase-by-briefcase check.we’re going to [ redacted ].we may [ redacted ] the [ redacted ], put [ redacted ] the [ redacted ].we don’t want to hurt business. our [redacted] is vulnerable.all [ redacted ]—six or seven every [redacted]—[ redacted ] the [redacted].we’ll put an extra guard [ redacted […]

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up in the third third of the night, unable to return to sleep,in my flannel robe i sit cross-legged on the floor in front of the television,watching the latest war news—urban fighting and point-blank fire,bunker-buster bombs and thousands of empty combat boots, firefights filmedin unearthly green light, dead and wounded in uncounted numbers, palaces litteredwith […]

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“Men scorched by mental grief, or suffering under bodily pain, feel as much refreshed in the companionship of their wives as a perspiring person in a cool bath. No man, even in anger, should ever do anything that is disagreeable to his wife, seeing that happiness, joy, and virtue, everything dependeth on the wife. A […]

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The final letter July 23, 1950Dear FolksI have a little more time to write now than I did the other day. In case you didn’t get the other letter there was $80 in Travelers checks in it.We are aboard a Japanese Ship (I can’t pronounce the name of it) We will get to Korea in […]

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the candy-bar wrapper saysi’m having a contestyou could win a truckload of moneybuy me and open me up and see so i do the candy-bar wrapper sayssorry, you are not a winnersorry, try againsorry, this will rot your insides outsorry, your tire just went flatsorry, your last four checks bouncedsorry, your cat ran awaysorry, your […]

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i see pencilled in on the calendarthat this morning i am to visit the jailand deliver an order of the courtto my client held there. fuck. what should i tell her? the truth? fuck that.here’s the truth: she doesn’t havea snowball’s chance in hell of beingreleased on any kind of bond. she’s going to be […]

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“The wife is a man’s half. The wife is the first of friends. The wife is the root of religion, profit, and desire. The wife is the root of salvation. They that have wives can perform religious acts. They that have wives can lead domestic lives. They that have wives have the means to be […]

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an acquired fear of roaring skiesmoved me to my knees beforethe sun-room window fighter-jets climbing from the local air force baseone-by-one climbing straight uprolling on their axesflashing their wings in sunrise sunlightflashing and rolling and climbing as thoughthey were living things themselvesroaring into autumn morningscreaming into life (Copyright 2023 by Tetman Callis.) Share this… Facebook […]

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i got a phone call today from the newest inmatea street-sweeping girl who’s managed to fuck her way to the bottomnow she’s in the county jaildoing light time in a heavy place she’s kickingkicking the heavy doorskicking the concrete wallskicking the h—kicking the m—wants to kick some a—but she’s on the target end of this […]

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“By a son one conquereth the three worlds. By a son’s son, one enjoyeth eternity. And by a grandson’s son great-grand-fathers enjoy everlasting happiness.” – The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Vol. I, Sambhava Parva of the Adi Parva, trans. Pratap Chandra Roy Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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there’s this truckit’s the dead-baby truckit’s being driven around downtownit’s as big as a moving vanits license plates are out-of-stateits driver is this old guyhe wears flannel shirts and a feed caphis jaw is set pretty hard his dead-baby truck has these pictureshuge photographic blow-ups on its sidesthey’re as big as the sides of a […]

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do this for me:get my paycheck from the attorneybring it by the jailat the jail you can pick up the paper so you can cash the checkgo cash the check then pay the cable television billgive the rest of the money to billy from the restauranthe can pay the credit cardsif i have to i’ll […]

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“Sakuntala having worshipped the king according to proper form, told him, ‘This is thy son, O king ! Let him be installed as thy heir-apparent ! O king, this child, like unto a celestial, hath been begotten by thee upon me! Therefore, O best of men, fulfill now the promise thou gavest me! Call to […]

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the bus stop is missing its benches and trash cansscars remain on the sidewalks women talking on cell phonescrossing against the lightstrot across the plastic faux-brick sidewalks fat men in knit shirts lumber slowly alongtheir mouths hanging open traffic slows to a stop young women wear tight clothestheir buttons straining we are the children of […]

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my name’s the quarter-a-day habitand i’m not much fun to live with i don’t pick up after myselfdo the dishesempty the trashclean the houseor put the clothes away or make the bedclean the toiletwash the caror rake the yard it should go without sayingbut in case it doesn’ti don’t do windows i’m a lazy little […]

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“Women should not live long in the houses of their paternal or maternal relations. Such residence is destructive of their reputation, their good conduct, their virtue.” – The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Vol. I, Sambhava Parva of the Adi Parva, trans. Pratap Chandra Roy Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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everybody in the city is talking about the weatherthe dusty skyhow the entire city smells of housecathow no rain has rained in weeks and weeksno rain to settle the dustwash away the sprayings everybody in the city is talking about the forestshow if it doesn’t rain soon the woods will surely burn nobody in the […]

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some say it’s no fun being a junkie butit does give one a certain raison d’etrea reason for getting up in the morningor the evening or the afternoon or whenever onehappens to be getting up in the middle of the night the hours to be up and at ‘emup and at the wallsscratching and poundingup […]

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“Remedies certainly exist for all curses, but no remedy can avail those cursed by their mother!” – The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Vol. I, Astika Parva of the Adi Parva, trans. Pratap Chandra Roy Share this… Facebook Pinterest Twitter Linkedin Email Print

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it seems i spend all mytime working and cleaning housewhen i’m not staring out the window atthe trees dancing on a thunderstorm wind whiletaking a hit from what may bemy fourth or fifth joint of the day it’s easy to lose track at four or five i meanit’s not the dancing trees that take the […]

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i am having the mostincredible high right now i know the validityof any statement madewhile the maker is in such a stateis suspect but i’ve been getting some intenserushesoff this little roachy remainderof a joint of roach-doap— oops—doaped-on-a-roap giggle me timbersi’ll have another hit (Published in High Street: Lawyers, Guns & Money in a Stoner’s […]

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“It is from great foolishness that persons blinded by love of wealth always desire to make a partition of their patrimony. After effecting a partition they fight with each other, deluded by wealth. Then again, enemies in the guise of friends cause estrangements between ignorant and selfish men after they become separated in wealth, and […]

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i was walking by the candy storewhen i tripped and stumbled over myselffell into a sticky-bud bush lay there for about a week, stuck it was hard to get up when i had only one free handthe other gripped by gripping a loaded roachclip a delightful dark lightan accursed, cursing, curvaceous bitchmy sweet lover, the […]

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when paul the attorney sees me in the hallway,he says, i’m looking for justice. i tell himthere’s been a misunderstanding, that we no longerspeak that language here, that justice has leftthe building, saying she’s not coming backuntil we come to our collective senses, drivethe money-changers from the temple, burnthe temple to the ground, grind the […]

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“This Republic means something. It means something to me. I’ve buried a lot of soldiers, and my dad and mom fought in World War II, relatives that fought in a lot different wars. And this country means something, and Constitution means something. And it’s bigger than us, bigger than any one of us, and we’ve […]

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a tall and heavyset man feeds pigeonsin the asphalt parking lot acrossthe street from a church downtown. he’s old butnot decrepit. he sticks his thumb out ata passing cyclist, as if to hitcha ride. a few blocks away, an inmateon the outs crosses a street againstthe light. a waiting motorist guns hisengine. the motorist wears […]

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oh looki rolled me a joint last night before i “fell asleep” here in my chair how sweet of me to think of me like that what a wonderful way to start my day i am so nice to me sometimesit makes me want to cry (Copyright 2023 by Tetman Callis.) Share this… Facebook Pinterest […]

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