fringeLIT is an online literary journal devoted to writers with vision and skill. We publish work demonstrating raw energy and timelessness.
We want work that is alive. This is a venue for serious writers frustrated with the tastes of the academic literary establishment.

Friendship

Written by  Jonathan Mannella

 

Two tomcats are trapped in a pillowcase
That’s tied off at the end
They rip into each other with
Dagger fangs and
Knife claws that
Sink into the other’s body
And tear the cats apart.

They war for minutes, hours
Until exhaustion and
Suffocation and blood loss
Take their toll on the cats
And they both die.

Published in Poetry
Social sharing
back to top

Most Popular

  • Apology To A Poem I Forgot To Write
    Hey pen…     hey paper…look - I know I told you that     we’d spend more time together     last night, andI’m really sorry…     I guess I just got carried away     doing all of the things that I do. I lost track of time, it seems,     and by the time I realized     that…
    in Poetry Read 5662 times
  • Angles
     a slipshod sculpture of poorly-welded and rusty metalin a case by the doornot on displaybut ogled nonethelessby bespectacled connoisseurs of nothing but their own opinionswho cluck their tonguesand tell youwhat is andwhat isn'tartfulwhile they whittle away their turpentine-saturated existenceswatching
    in Poetry Read 5153 times
  • My Pee Buddy 'N' Me
    It must be said that I don't keep a regular urinary schedule or anything like that. I drink seven bottles of water a day (for good luck), and so I go two or three times in an afternoon. It was just a coincidence that Indian Doctor and I met twice…
    in Fiction Read 3652 times
  • Metal Between My Legs
    The concept of happiness floats like a feather over my head But it isn’t obeying the laws of gravity It looms over me, motionless, quiet, and dull Like the height requirement on a roller coaster to a short kid Both of us are incapable of grasping what hangs over us…
    in Poetry Read 3287 times
  • Polaroids
     “You know Bonnie, right?”“No.”  I lied. I didn't want to be bothered, not by Tim Snyder, not in the middle of a quiz in the math class I was already failing, and definitely not about Bonnie.“Sure you do, I see you with her all the time.”“Oh, yeah.  She lives in…
    in Fiction Read 2806 times

Recently Added

  • Untitled XIII
    The shopping carts of sticky cansWords she took too hardDishes rotting in the sinkWet mail in the yardThe days you can't wake up and thinkStaring drunkthrough the windowfor hoursHereBetween scenesAlong the inexhaustibleand exhausting stretchesof inertiathat connectthe dotsof joy
    in Poetry Read 261 times
  • Skin
    Onto the subwayWalks a manFace burnedBy acidPeering at passengersFrom cocktail onionsPushed into wet mudI give him some moneyOthers follow suitTouch their own facesTo make sureThey're still themAnd he's still heSkin is a tough bitchSlit open and friedTries hardTo stay trueIf it failsIt still triedStill keeps each hellOn the appropriate side
    in Poetry Read 211 times
  • Untitled VII
    Lack of oxygen to the brainor a lack of brainThe latter: head traumaThe former: everything elseUntil thenyour bodydevoted to your brainfills incessant ordersfor glucose and oxygenKeeps you alivewhether you deserve itor notDeath lays her eggs in your heartand the earth takes you backafter life has molestedand infected youMurdered in an…
    in Poetry Read 213 times
  • Peep Show
    Popped into apeep showon Seventh Avenueto jam a fork in my heartandleave a messof moltendeath A handful of menbrowsed DVDsand pickedtheir balls A lone Guatemalanmopped the stalls Hacked up and de-bonedmen walk the citiesdicks yawninghearts sleeping Loveand desiretied togetherlike shoeson a wire
    in Poetry Read 211 times
  • Tale of the Intellectual Harlot
      Western donor goverments have bought and paid for the loyalty of local Bangladeshi intellectuals: these latter say whatever the donors want them to.  These are the intellectual harlots.  
    in Poetry Read 723 times Read more...