The man with a body
like Gregor Samsa’s
and the woman
with a lost appetite
like the Hunger Artist’s
both inventors of loneliness
both as isolated as sad planets
both caught by life’s unfairness
met during a costume party
on the occasion of the release
from solitary confinement
of a man with the exact
neuroses and temperament
of Joseph K. just before
his inexplicable arrest.
The man with a body
like Gregor Samsa’s
after a glass of wine
admits his desire
for the woman
with a lost appetite
like the Hunger Artist’s
her simplicity and thinness
and unrepentant mysticism.
They exchange phone numbers
almost comprehend each other’s
identity and perplexity
the fearful small talk
and frightened thinking
turning to the tactile
she stroking his shell
he touching her empty belly
like foreplay and enthrallment
during the beginning of madness
in an unwritten fairy-tale of love
by a ghost with a resemblance
to Kafka’s romantic double.
Canadian fiction writer, poet, and playwright J. J. Steinfeld lives on Prince Edward Island, where he is patiently waiting for Godot’s arrival and a phone call from Kafka. While waiting, he has published 24 books, including An Unauthorized Biography of Being (Stories, Ekstasis Editions, 2016), Absurdity, Woe Is Me, Glory Be (Poetry, Guernica Editions, 2017), A Visit to the Kafka Café (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2018), Gregor Samsa Was Never in The Beatles (Stories, Ekstasis Editions, 2019), Morning Bafflement and Timeless Puzzlement (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2020), Somewhat Absurd, Somehow Existential (Poetry, Guernica Editions, 2021), Acting on the Island (Stories, Pottersfield Press, 2022), and As You Continue to Wait (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2022).
Published 2/14/25