MICHAEL VANCALBERGH

7 Aphorisms Delivered During a Smoke Break

If a god exists, they understand how shitty it is to install something.

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Sharing lighters is one of the last acts of kindness.

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Watching a cigarette burn is such a beautiful waste.

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Birds sing because they don’t know any better.

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Each person understands heat as a different type of loss.

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Before the last drag, everyone expects more.

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Loneliness is silence with tiny, repetitive movements.

Michael VanCalbergh received his MFA in Poetry from Rutgers-Newark. He currently survives in Normal, IL. When not listening to stories of his daughter’s best friend, Rainbow Butterfly, he is one half of the comedy etymology podcast, Words for Dinner. His work has appeared, or is forthcoming from, Tinderbox, Gingerbread House, Apex Magazine, The Collagist, and others.