Musical Realism & English Juche Language Instruction

Jeffrey H. MacLachlan

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MUSICAL REALISM

Sound is the preeminent element of capitalism because otherwise your attention floats elsewhere. I write in prose form because a demon stalks behind these lines, seeking enjambment space to lunge with xylophone molars. He's black and white and composed of words to camouflage his gnashing. Think of a pop song, he says. A real club banger. Dance and clap tonight because you're spending dough even though student loans devour you. But the demon returns with morning cavities. Tomorrow you will have a choice, he says. Chain yourself to a desk or smile will decay. Either way, you're four-four time. So the next day I put on headphones to drown out his snarls and cyst. 

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ENGLISH JUCHE LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION

lesson    today    
 
   what      is      fang
 
           what     is      fang
 
                   machete           capitalist  tooth
 
     machete        paid martinet
 
                                 barred owl mocks   infected roots
      
         barred    owl infects 
 
                  revolutionary        art lays bare
 
       washington   hawked slave      teeth   revolutionary ware
 
     midnight termite fascists snack      adolescent braces      pincushioned 
 
           jack-o-latern    crooked pincushion 
 
juche probiscus            jason unmasked  mosquito stumps
 
         juche jason     bug  juice gums
                    
                       when buried    campers nibble    earth decay
 
           camp crystal            animal    haute students 
 
                crystal      children          mine
 
     
       americans    all            jason      prey
 
 
                                 enamel   grind   

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Jeffrey H. MacLachlan also has recent work in New York Quarterly, The Greensboro Review, and The Meadow, among others. He is a Senior Lecturer of Literature at GCSU.

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