ETERNAL BALSAMIC CONTRACT, Lewis Freedman

"i mean there’s this
noise right before
we feel the
earthquake, a crack
like some secret
tectonic intelligence below
the mesa is
focusing a shriek
and cries out,
you pieces of
shit."

Protective syrup.

Eternal Balsamic Contract, Lewis Freedman. 15 pages, 8.5" x 7". Covers set in Cooper Black type and printed on a 1961 Vandercook III proof press with French Parchtone green cardstock. Front cover illustration printed on a Risograph machine named "Chet." Insides laser duplicated on French heavyweight white text paper. Copy set in Century Schoolbook, first edition of 115, bound with staples (ten copies bound w string for the author) with the help of a community of friends in the late autumn of 2023. Design and front cover illustration by Ryan Skrabalak. $13 plus shipping (media mail).

Lewis Freedman is a poet sitting at a dining room table in Tulsa and typing this bio. It’s suddenly much colder these last two days after unseasonable warmth last week, and the chill is a little bit of a shock to his system. For lunch, in about 40 minutes, he’ll probably just have bread and peanut butter. Books published under the name Lewis Freedman include Residual Synonyms for the Name of God and I Want Something Other Than Time (both from Ugly Duckling). As he was writing this a panic came over him, he just missed an appointment!

Printed and assembled in “Kansas,” unceded Kaw, Osage, and Kickapoo land, “USA”