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The Sky / Weightless Treasure / A Neon Body / If I Die

April 26, 2021/ David Hostetter

The Sky

The plunging water, the plunging light:
replenished, stupefied and serene.

It is
so wide-open
that what looks and feels like endless light shines through,

then a glinting truth
that looks like madness, the bald white hemorrhage
of a gravity moving through the moon.

An endless field of apertures
conglomerate in images and runes,
slicing you— and you— you have moved.

A mountain’s moved inside.
When it becomes a planet it’ll have its own sky
a swooping sun shines through.


Weightless Treasure

I move into darkness
and because there’s nothing to anchor me
there’s nothing to drown me
and there’s nothing to blow me away.
I have blown myself away—
I’ve laid waste to me
and weightless treasure’s emerged
and I’ve been swept up.


A Neon Body

There is a neon body floating in the flesh
with gratitude for everything.

Its limbs are limpid as a stream breathing.
It has always just made love.

It is as thoughtless as a robe,
and it allows the lids to blink so slowly
you think you must have risen into heaven.

It is better than heaven.

It can make you give birth to the kind of blooming
you thought could not exist.

It can do this so calmly
that it doesn’t seem like anything’s happening.

Even in the screaming lips that are buried in the clay
its gratitude transcends evil,
and it is not naive.


If I Die

If I die don’t pity me—
anything has a throat.

I hang by a strand,
and I can expand—and you can encompass it all—

worlds are growing from each other like geysers.

David Hostetter is the lemon-soaked apple and spinach side dish that tastes mildly of cyanide from the apple seeds and glistens under your kitchen lights as you wonder if your guests have conspired not to show. He is from Hogtown, Ontario, and would like you to contact him at if you get any ideas.

Amuse-Bouche Archive

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Friday Lunch Blog

Friday Lunch! A serving of contemporary essays published every Friday.

Today’s course:

Diagnosed at Sixty – My ADHD Journey

April 22, 2022/in Blog / Kait Leonard
Read more
https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/pexels-tara-winstead-8378728-scaled.jpg 1707 2560 Kait Leonard https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Kait Leonard2022-04-22 17:37:172022-04-22 22:35:30Diagnosed at Sixty – My ADHD Journey

Why Video Game Preservation Matters

April 15, 2022/in Blog / Nicholas Galvez
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Sarees in America

April 1, 2022/in Blog / Majella Pinto
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Midnight Snack

A destination for all your late night obsessions.

Tonight’s bites:

QVC-land

May 6, 2022/in Midnight Snack / D. E. Hardy
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Diana-Hardy_QVC_Feature_Photo.png 533 800 D. E. Hardy https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png D. E. Hardy2022-05-06 23:45:322022-05-06 19:25:59QVC-land

Escape Artists at the End of the World

April 29, 2022/in Midnight Snack / Lisa Levy
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/waldemar-brandt-eIOPDU3Fkwk-unsplash-scaled.jpg 1707 2560 Lisa Levy https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Lisa Levy2022-04-29 23:49:582022-04-29 20:27:32Escape Artists at the End of the World

The House in the Middle

April 15, 2022/in Midnight Snack / Megan Vasquez
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More coming soon!

School Lunch

An occasional Wednesday series dishing up today’s best youth writers.

Today’s slice:

I’ve Stayed in the Front Yard

May 12, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Brendan Nurczyk
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/SL-Insta-Brendan-Nurczyk-2.png 1500 1500 Brendan Nurczyk https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Brendan Nurczyk2021-05-12 10:18:392022-02-01 13:24:05I’ve Stayed in the Front Yard

A Communal Announcement

April 28, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Isabella Dail
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SL-FB-Isabella-Dail.png 788 940 Isabella Dail https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Isabella Dail2021-04-28 11:34:132021-04-28 11:34:13A Communal Announcement

Seventeen

April 14, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Abigail E. Calimaran
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SL-Insta-Abigail-E.-Calimaran.png 1080 1080 Abigail E. Calimaran https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Abigail E. Calimaran2021-04-14 11:22:062021-04-14 11:22:06Seventeen

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Word From the Editor

Here at Lunch Ticket, 2021 represents ten years of our literary journal. 2021 marks the start of a new decade, one I can only hope will stand as tall and iconic in the history of our publication as the jazz age in America. What we’ve put together this fall is what I call and will fondly remember as our “Roaring 20th Issue”.

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