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Human expression is never orderly.
​It is a space of disruption.To let ourselves express means to be vulnerable.​It means to invert syntax so as to articulate the visceral. 




​​​The Fissured Tongue Series 

After the Regional Cat-Snack Sales Managers’ Meeting

Brad Rose
Picture
"Tattoo Flash" by unidentified artist; pen and colored ink on cardboard; 8 1/8 x 10 1/8 in.; 20th century; open source from the Smithsonian American Art Museum
The pet snack industry is family friendly, because people look like their pets, only more so. Of course, the public is legally entitled to know what it’s up against---you know, the raw, but cooked; the medium, but rare; the treble, not the bass. Once, I took a speed sleeping course, so now I’m able to catnap in half the time. Productivity has skyrocketed.  Last night, after the quarterly regional sales managers’ meeting, I drove sleepily home through the night’s smooth and furry dark. The streets lay down flat as an omelet and my mind wandered toward the meaning of pets. Of course, nothing good can happen when a human thinks too long about a cat. As I pulled into our driveway, I didn’t hear a thing, until Mona ran out, screaming and sobbing Tiger, Tiger, at the top of her lungs, frantically pointing under my wheels, and offering to cut my hair for free with her newly stropped butcher knife. Wait a minute. Who’s running this meeting? I meowed. 
About the Author

Brad Rose was born and raised in Los Angeles and lives in Boston. He is the author of three collections of poetry and flash fiction, "Pink X-Ray" (Big Table Publishing, 2015), "de/tonations" (Nixes Mate Press, 2020), and "Momentary Turbulence" (Cervena Barva Press, 2020). His fourth collection, "WordinEdgeWise," is forthcoming in 2021 from Cervena Barva Press. Five times nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and twice nominated for Best of the Net Anthology, his poetry and micro fiction have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The American Journal of Poetry, Clockhouse, Hunger Mountain, Sequestrum, Folio, and other publications. His story, “Desert Motel,” appears in the anthology Best Microfiction, 2019. Brad’s website is: www.bradrosepoetry.com​

About the Work

"​In "After the Regional Cat-Snack Sales Managers’ Meeting," as with much of my work, I’m concerned with word play, defamiliarization, the juxtaposition of unlikely associations, and dark humor. When writing, I try to follow three precepts: 1) “Every view of things that is not strange is false,”— Paul Valéry.” 2) “The function of the imagination is not to make strange things settled, so much as to make settled things strange.” — GK Chesterton. 3) “The ugly may be beautiful, but the pretty, never.” — Paul Gauguin"

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  • Fissured Tongue Volume 6
  • Poetry Contest Results
    • 2024 POETRY BOOK CONTESTS RESULTS
    • Sublingua 2023 Results
    • Sublingua 2022 Results
    • Sublingua 2020 Results
    • Sublingua 2019 Results
  • The Fissured Tongue Series
    • Fissured Tongue Volume 5
    • Fissured Tongue Volume 4
    • Fissured Tongue Volume 3
    • Fissured Tongue Volume 2
    • Fissured Tongue Volume 1
    • The Fissured Tongue Series
      • Online Issue Two
      • Online Issue One
  • Submission Guidelines
    • POETRY BOOK CONTESTS
  • About Us
    • Masthead
    • More
      • Interviews
      • Blog
        • Blog
      • Resources
        • Writing resources
        • Mile-High MFA
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    • Our Contributors
    • Mission
  • Store
  • Nominations & Awards
    • Pushcart Prize
    • Best of the Net
    • Best Micro Fiction
  • The Art of the Postcard
    • About The Art of the Postcard
    • Art of the Postcard Issue 3
    • Art of the Postcard Issue 2
    • Art of the Postcard Issue 1
    • We Are All Artists Exhibit
      • Video Compilation FirehouseArt Center Postcard Exhibit
      • Firehouse Exhibitors 2022
        • Churnage FirehouseArt Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Daniel Staub Weinberg Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Genevieve Rose Barr Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Eva Schultz Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Samantha Malay Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • D Allen Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Hayley Harris Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Tony Peyser Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Sarah Santoni Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Julia Klatt Singer Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Kathryn Kruse Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Meg Freer Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Moira Walsh Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Stephanie Staab Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Anne Swannell Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Laura Knott Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Jo Goren Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • CR Resetarits Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Sarah Ernestine Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Stephanie Johnson Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Charles J. March III Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Emily Mosley Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Grace Desmarais Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Emily Vieweg Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Claire Lawrence Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Meca'Ayo Cole Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Andrea Rexilius Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Christian Garduno Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Salma Ahmad Caller Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Glenn Thomas Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Claire Yspol Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Michael Thompson Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Rikki Santer Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Laura Gamache Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Christine Williams Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Stephanie Beechem Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Imma Dunach Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Ginny Short Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Josh Lefkowitz Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
        • Carolyn Adams Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit
      • We Are All Artists Exhibit Guide
      • We are All Artists Submission Form Firehouse Art Center Postcard Exhibit