ANTIPOETRY MAGAZINE
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    • Issue 1 | February 2022 >
      • American Atavistic by David Booth
      • Antonyms for “Automotive” by Glen Armstrong
      • Excuse by John-Thomas Kelly
      • goodnight by Elena Vallejo
      • SUGAR CUBE by C. Cimmone
      • How Dreams Can End Up by Richard LeDue
      • Granny from the Days of Yore by Todd Mercer
      • ​Motherhood by Julia Nusbaum ​
      • [opening the veins] by Christine Hamm
      • Maybe by Yulia Tseytlin
      • ​What Love Is by Julia Nusbaum
      • [down there one is alone] by Christine Hamm
    • Issue 2 | June 2022 >
      • Untitled (A milky light...) by Andrea the Caustic
      • my brother screams in supermarkets by Harriet Evans'
      • The Thing that I Miss About You Is Me ​by Pamela Moss
      • There is Still Time by Robert L. Penick
      • WHEN IT'S TIME TO GO by clive donovan
      • darker than night by Raymond Gibson
      • Idle Days by Liam Mcclelland
      • ​on picking up a crepe paper poppy outside of lincoln cathedral By J. W. Summerisle
      • Untitled (It was the middle of winter in purgatory...) by Martin McKenna
      • december by Èlyse Deering
      • 12 months by Phrieda Bogere
    • Issue 3 | October 2022 >
      • POEM COMPOSED OF TEXTS WITH FRIENDS by Courtney LeBlanc
      • Untitled (Fruits on the branches...) by ivan de Monbrison
      • Comes the Last Time by Steven Bruce
      • Hope is a Heavy Burden, Lay it on Me by Mariya Kika
      • Chipper Wood Chipper by Agrimmeer DeMolay
      • Death of Mangiafuoco by Toti OBrien
      • Boy by Toti OBrien
      • Hellish Perfection by Cody Ares Baynori
      • Event Horizon by Bruce McRae
      • Mirror by Khushnoom Merchant
      • like coptic by Falon Willow
      • Round Nouns by Will Stanier
      • I Found It For You Gong-Gong by Ren Peng
      • glass-breaking season by Charlotte Amelia Poe
      • THE WAY WE THINK OF BIRDS by Caitlin Andrews
      • Lost Is the Story by Alexander Etheridge
      • Memory by Ramesh Dohan
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​Death of Mangiafuoco by Toti OBrien


Cacciutiello, cacciutiello staje zitto.
​Chi te sente t’accire. 
Hush, hush,
little puppy… or, they said
he didn't say puppy but little
one, as if addressing a tiny…
Wait. When he was found
at mid morning, the sand shone
with a nasty spark of crushed glass.
In the shimmering light, he lay
sideways. Not bunched up, just
orderly tucked, as if someone
had staged him. Naked, and
his skin was clean, soft and pale.
And his sagging flesh
was more childish, tranquil, pure
they’d ever expect
as if under those rags, dirt and crusts
it had been preserved.
Scrubbed and scored, like a statue
someone had stroked with a brush
coming back to the indented sections,
each corner, each crease.
His hair stretched full length,
not over his shoulders, down his back...
No. Straight up, like a rope
sprouting from the top of his skull.
Like a puppet’s string.
Neatly combed.
Who could have managed
so fast to unravel his dreadlocks?
Not white, yet. Just umber, just dust.
Like a string
hooked to the fontanelle of a puppet.
Eyes and mouth were properly sealed.
The face looked serene.

Toti O’Brien is the Italian Accordionist with the Irish Last Name. Born in Rome, living in Los Angeles, she is an artist, musician and dancer. She is the author of Other Maidens (BlazeVOX, 2020), An Alphabet of Birds (Moonrise Press, 2020), In Her Terms (Cholla Needles Press, 2021), Pages of a Broken Diary (Pski’s Porch, 2022) and Alter Alter (Elyssar Press, 2022).
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  • Home
  • Issues
    • Issue 1 | February 2022 >
      • American Atavistic by David Booth
      • Antonyms for “Automotive” by Glen Armstrong
      • Excuse by John-Thomas Kelly
      • goodnight by Elena Vallejo
      • SUGAR CUBE by C. Cimmone
      • How Dreams Can End Up by Richard LeDue
      • Granny from the Days of Yore by Todd Mercer
      • ​Motherhood by Julia Nusbaum ​
      • [opening the veins] by Christine Hamm
      • Maybe by Yulia Tseytlin
      • ​What Love Is by Julia Nusbaum
      • [down there one is alone] by Christine Hamm
    • Issue 2 | June 2022 >
      • Untitled (A milky light...) by Andrea the Caustic
      • my brother screams in supermarkets by Harriet Evans'
      • The Thing that I Miss About You Is Me ​by Pamela Moss
      • There is Still Time by Robert L. Penick
      • WHEN IT'S TIME TO GO by clive donovan
      • darker than night by Raymond Gibson
      • Idle Days by Liam Mcclelland
      • ​on picking up a crepe paper poppy outside of lincoln cathedral By J. W. Summerisle
      • Untitled (It was the middle of winter in purgatory...) by Martin McKenna
      • december by Èlyse Deering
      • 12 months by Phrieda Bogere
    • Issue 3 | October 2022 >
      • POEM COMPOSED OF TEXTS WITH FRIENDS by Courtney LeBlanc
      • Untitled (Fruits on the branches...) by ivan de Monbrison
      • Comes the Last Time by Steven Bruce
      • Hope is a Heavy Burden, Lay it on Me by Mariya Kika
      • Chipper Wood Chipper by Agrimmeer DeMolay
      • Death of Mangiafuoco by Toti OBrien
      • Boy by Toti OBrien
      • Hellish Perfection by Cody Ares Baynori
      • Event Horizon by Bruce McRae
      • Mirror by Khushnoom Merchant
      • like coptic by Falon Willow
      • Round Nouns by Will Stanier
      • I Found It For You Gong-Gong by Ren Peng
      • glass-breaking season by Charlotte Amelia Poe
      • THE WAY WE THINK OF BIRDS by Caitlin Andrews
      • Lost Is the Story by Alexander Etheridge
      • Memory by Ramesh Dohan
  • About Us
  • Submit