All False Starts
[clears throat, is young]
When I grow up
When I grow up I want to be a movie director
I will make a movie called Flame of Death and The Acrobat
If not I will drive a taxi
Because that way I’ll get to meet lots of new people
And maybe one of those people will be a movie director
Who can make a movie about me
and call it Flame of Death and The Acrobat
[turns page, is old]
This piece is called Sounds Promising
[turns page]
This piece is called Actually
[turns page]
This piece is called The Death of Uncle Robot
[turns page]
This piece is called Blank Space
[turns page]
This piece is called Unimportant Things That Will Undoubtedly Destroy Us
[turns page]
This piece is called Actors: Stop Shouting
[turns page]
This piece is called My Daddy Took Me Hunting at the Bronx Zoo, Bronx Zoo
[turns page]
This piece is called The Diminishing
[turns page]
This piece is called Might Could
[turns page]
This piece is called Persecuting All Grandmothers on Suspicion of Being Wolves
[turns page]
This piece is called Why Come
[turns page]
This piece is called Starting Gun for Water Sports
[turns page]
This piece is called Flaccidity
[turns page]
This piece is called Blue Period
[turns page]
This piece is called Polite Cough
[turns page]
This piece is called What They Talk About When They Talk About Killing Us With a Fork
[turns page]
This piece is called Fire Estate
[turns page]
This piece is called You Rent It, You Bought It
[turns page]
This piece is called Life in the Town of the Teaser
[turns page]
This piece is called Halfway Point
[turns page]
This piece is called I’m Reading them to Myself
[turns page]
This piece is called Naaaaaaaaah
[turns page]
This piece is called Content without Content
[turns page]
This piece is called The Diminishing 2: The Diminishing Returns
[turns page]
This piece is called Yeah Yeah
[turns page]
This piece is called Sometimes it Helps to Just
[turns page]
This piece is called Plausible Titles
[turns page]
This piece is called My Mother is Fodder
[turns page]
This piece is called How to Force a Sneeze
[turns page]
This piece is called Precious Little
[turns page]
This piece is called Duration
[turns page]
This piece is called Worn Out Welcome
[turns page]
This piece is called Clever Dodge
[turns page]
This piece is called Entitled
[turns page]
This piece is called Understatement of the Year
[turns page]
This piece is called One for Every
[turns page]
This piece is called Turns Page
[turns page]
This piece is called Little Promises for the Future
[turns page]
This piece is called Flame of Death and The Acrobat
[turns a hundred pages]
This piece is called What I Didn’t Get Around To
Henry Hoke was a child in the south and an adult in New York and California. His work appears in Electric Literature, PANK, Gigantic, Birkensnake, Entropy, and is forthcoming in The Synchronia Project. His plays have been produced on the west coast and at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival and published by Snail Press. He co-created and directs ENTER>text, a living literary journal in Los Angeles. 3 years, a book about ENTER>text, is out now.
