BRING BACK TO BRIGHT

By Ben Greenman

from forthcoming collection, as yet untitled

Lacey Manchek, a publicity executive in the city who was, in her youth, a poet of some reputation, was taken from her apartment yesterday and delivered to an identical apartment in a faraway town, where she was held for the purposes of once again producing verse. The new apartment, stocked with groceries and toiletries that corresponded exactly to those she had left behind, permitted the continuation of her life without interruption. A close examination has been made of the luggage and clothing she brought with her. Out of the latter a baseball cap, to which a black-and-white patch reading “Brain-Body Barrier” had been attached, has been taken, along with a second reading “My Eyes Are Down There” and similarly designed t-shirts reading “I Resent The Implication,” “La Dialectique Ne Peut Pas Casser Les Briques” and “Take It Off And Find Out.” The four shirts have been sent to the local laundromat for cleaning, as they are well-worn and gray; if they are judged to be difficult to bring back to bright whiteness, they will be replaced with identical garments.