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Tom Hanks's Fetish
Mark Gosztyla

for typewriters made the news again today.

Salt discovered on your upper lip when

leaning in for a kiss I tasted what’s left

of morning’s walk on the beach of our shared

history. The fog rolling in even as

tide rolls out. “It’s not your fault,” you say, to

what I can’t remember, distracted by

un-ironic wearers of bucket hats,

hiding their heads and smartphones under towels

to escape summer’s glare. I don’t know, I

think now; I bought a black suit, then everyone

around me started dying. I stare

at my reflection in the hotel room

mirror behind which clipboard holders take

glum note of every breath. It’s an old show.

~~~

Mark Gosztyla is the author of the chapbook Everything Is Obvious After It Happens from Finishing Line Press. His poems also appear in FEED, Lumina, minnesota review, Miracle Monocle, Oakland Review, Outlook Springs, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, and Thin Air. Mark has taught writing at The University of New Hampshire & Tufts University and is currently head of the English Department at Choate Rosemary Hall, where he lives with his family.

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