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This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN# / ISBN# issue/book “Lost in America” cc&d, v269 (the March 2017 issue) You can also order this 6"x9" issue as a paperback book:

Order this writing in the book Things Found in Books the cc&d July-Dec. 2016 collection book		get the 418 page Jan.-April 2017 cc&d magazine issue collection 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

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The Antagonizing Spirit

Brian Looney

Back in grade school,
second or third grade,
our classroom was invaded
by an overpowering
aroma, whose body
grew so pungent
I could feel it
crowd my face,
coddling the
pores.

The day progressed,
the stench increased,
until the teacher
told us that a
“kitty had
been trapped
beneath the cubicle,”
that(there)
it had died,
and the smell
should “go away
in a couple days
or so.”

We took some air at recess,
which only served to
weaken us the more,
for upon re-entry,
we had to fight
the rot afresh,
to re-embrace it,
so to speak.

And in a couple days
or so, we grew
accustomed to the
presence of decay,
for it was a Presence,
creamy clear and milky thick,
a chalky, putrid cloud,
which coated our pubescent tongues,
shattered our arithmetic,
invoked our prime detention,
while the teacher coughed
and frowned and
sprayed a stream
of air refresher,
and how she cupped her hand
across her mouth and nose
and whipped her right arm
violently, so that
seabreeze scent affected
every student equally;
but all it really
did was marry
the antagonizing spirit,
for that is what it was.

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