Put the fries in the bag.
Collapse all memories.
Recall the grasshoppers
on the windbreaker.
How they scuttled
for first attention.
Einstein’s not on the beach anymore.
He finally gave up on swimming.
Before that he went to Rippers.
Had ten beers, ten burgers, and wept.

Windswept, the grasshopper operator’s
new collision. A dusk of form and function.
You spend long hours at the rack,
eyeing an indecent expenditure
while thanking your mother
for the gift of wilder years.

Fist fight at the comic convention.
Administering self-harm to the field nurse.
A usual afternoon finds me considering:
where have all the U.S. elephants gone?

It is a long walk from here to my home.
If I start walking now I’ll get there by tomorrow.
I can access my emergency fund for a new life.
I can use a landline to call myself 30 years ago.

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Steven Markow is a writer, director and producer of written, video, and web content currently based in Brooklyn, NY. He works (mostly) as a Lead Content Producer and Strategist with a specialty in podcast production and growth. He began as a freelance writer, contributing to magazines and websites including The New Yorker, in 2016. In addition to written work, he wrote, directed, and produced several animated segments for television, including shows on Adult Swim and FX, with several Vimeo staff picks and film festival selections among them. The content of his Instagram page, written and video work, has totaled several million views with multiple viral posts. He trained and performed sketch and improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade, Second City, The PIT, and Annoyance theaters, and has performed at major venues around NYC.