solve for x.
published 2022 in Re:Visions.
Angel A and Angel B are hurtling towards each other at the speed of light.
How many lightyears away from the leftmost galaxy will they be when they collide?
they live in things that spin
arrive at high noon in a corkscrew ship
no more no less than celestial hands twisting a pepper grinder
swinging like not-pendulums
they have trajectories
moons
asteroids
i know no religion but the hypnosis of windmills
manic disco balls at maximum velocity
they are a yo-yo whose radius keeps shrinking.
A music-box angel rolls down an inclined plane.
If three angels stand in an equilateral triangle, at what longitude will the Xth angel land?
they navigate with brass compasses
in the wake of lax tornadoes
glamorous dung beetles they look to the stars
clockwork steamrollers flattening tar
and i too am flattened beneath this intergalactic rolling pin that allies itself to no recipe
they sail the aurora borealis
guided by microchips
resistors
diodes
they are circuit boards embalmed.
If a combination lock with code XX-XX-XX plays X rounds of Russian roulette for X decades, what is the probability that an angel needs a parachute to fall safely to the ground?
they have heels speckled with hiroshima debris
nuclear gears and radioactive spurs
doorknobs that don’t open the first time
they are skeleton keys in the wrong lock
wrong body
wrong closet
with veins pumping not-blood
turbines extracting energy to fuel the voyage
propellers for their own ship
they are one hundred times on the chalkboard I WILL NOT FOLLOW YOU HOME.
Angel X’s can opener can open X cans. How many cans can Angel X’s can opener open?
their circular saws perform brain surgeries
with the grace of the man who cuts the shawarma off its turning spit
slicing the space-time continuum
what would it take to make me them
the dart and not the dartboard
the satellite and not the globe
the shooting star and not its destination
they are cartwheeling on the surface of a planet with an unknown revolution.
Given that point X, point X, and point X are all moving on the same jazz record on the [e]x-angel’s record player, prove the alternate exterior angels theorem.
they gyrate cog-like
a carousel ride of noble steeds encircling
pierced and held in place after jousting with stripper poles
meridians traveled by cement mixers
i know no prayer but the x-ray of twin ribcages ready to switch
the question of who is screwing who and how quickly with springs
coils
pulleys
simple machines from a parallel dimension
they are revolving doors that blur the lines between rooms.
A rotary phone with number XXX-XXX-XXXX has an orbital radius of X.
If the egg tart angel on the lazy susan spins at X decibels, will we have an equal centripetal acceleration on the equinox?
they say X marks the spot
marks the atlas
marks the starboard deck
marks the leeward side
marks the coordinates
marks the north arrow
marks the perfect place to hit the pinata to make it twirl
marks an intersection in timelines
marks a divergence
xoxo
love you
they fail to say goodbye.
If you and your [e]x-angel travel at X miles per hour for X minutes at an altitude of X feet and a weight of X pounds and a force of X newtons in the opposite direction, how many [e]x-travelers and [e]x-angels do you have to be before you can be [e]x-human?
they know that a map of the universe and a map of my neurons are not so dissimilar
a frisbee will move forward forever in space
that critical game show wheel of fortune moment
exactly at zero hour
at the choke point
at the bottlenecking
a treadmill
paper mill
printing press headline: INCREASE IN ORBITAL ECCENTRICITY
they are the equal and opposite reaction.
If an angel chops off its wings and gives them to you, does the number of angels stay the same?