The Bigness by Jarred James Thompson

Jarred James Thompson | November 17th, 2018 | poetry | No Comments

Poet Bio

At this moment all over the world
people are making love, waging war, signing death certificates, laying in baths smoking.

At this moment all over the world
insects are crushed underfoot while colonies of ants take root in mansions with ten-foot walls.

At this moment all over the world
needles are inserted in veins to escape pain while tubes drain our insides of time turned sour.

At this moment all over the world
skyscrapers flutter frantically to gain a foothold above the rest, on level ground.

At this moment all over the world
vultures shred hairy carcasses out of love while emails saying I miss you get deleted from spam folders.

At this moment all over the world
the new kid at school makes their first friend and the rejection letter you’ve been dreading gets read.

At this moment all over the world
a man takes his first step out of rehab while a boy gets sent to Pray The Gay Away Camp.

At this moment all over the world.
a woman farts while her lover gives her head and a new-born gets laid down on their first bed.

At this moment all over the world
grapes of blood burst their skin, running, becoming firecrackers popping in rectums, in wombs.

At this moment all over the world
a foreigner’s tongue gets stitched into a bow while a tourist’s flash photography thunders over slums.

At this moment all over the world
the great birth, the great death, is coming/ has come/ has past all too soon

for any single pair of pinprick eyes to open wide enough
to let all this BIGNESS through.

Poet

Jarred Thompson ‘s poetry has been published in Typecast Literary Magazine, Type House Literary Magazine, Outcast Magazine, the Esthetic Apostle, Sky Island Journal, Cosmographia Books (forthcoming), Best New African Poets Anthology of 2016, New Contrast Literary Journal and one of his poems was longlisted for The Sol Plaatje Award and Anthology of Poetry in 2017.

His chapbook Universes and Paradoxes was shortlisted for the Kingdom in the Wild Poetry Prize. His fiction publications include Typecast Literary Magazine, New Contrast Literary Journal (forthcoming 2018), The Rainy Day Literary Magazine, ImageOutWrite (forthcoming 2018), the Johannesburg Review of Books and The 2018 Writivism Mentoring Anthology Transcending the Flame.

Additionally, his short story Changing I’s was longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. He is currently completing his Masters in English Literature at the University of Johannesburg.

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