‘Chew the Wild Side on the Meat’, ‘Punctuality Prospers’ & ‘Hindsight Can Get Hazy’

Allison White is a writer and frequent traveler based in the Los Angeles area. Her work has placed in several screenwriting contests, including the Austin Film Festival for her feature "Waverly". She frequently tells stories of the often vibrant human experience, and what it means to be flawed and loved. She travels all over the world to experience this life, and see what the world has in store for her.

Chew the Wild Side on the Meat

I remember the monumental sight of dry, craggy and fang-like peaks; shooting into the sky from
the jaw of the earth. I was on the trail and the air’s increasing elevation was getting thin. My
phone was off and forgotten in the rig – it wouldn’t work in these mountains, and I wouldn’t
need it for the summer. No connection to the living rush of the concrete flow, back there, in
society. My pack was heavy – I had everything, but experience. Most of life can only be learned
in action – there’s no way to prepare. Happy souls are packed with failure that the rules can’t
teach. All these years since prove the basics true... go green, stoke adventure, manufacture desire
in the primal pumps of your heart and persist to personalized motives. Some flames smoke out
before the spark. I don’t know how the others felt, but I like to get deep, and lost, when I don’t
know what I’m doing... but if you sit and dwell, you never really get down the trail... so get in
thick of discomfort, go on with it, and you’ll never regret it. I repeated phrases and there was no
going back, now. I started to sweat, the trail ran steeply up the hill, and transformed into
switchbacks, cut into the mountainside. We climbed, aimed at the other side, and with each step
we were consumed by the woods. Civilization, the noise of the streets, the pace of society, greed,
the brutal consumption of our hours by corporate production, the hunger of the money machine,
and that illusive societal status, we chase like starvation, and it won’t mean shit when we are
dead; yes, it all started to fade, and our wild senses creeped out. Released by the sight of dead,
flesh chewed bones, which led to a mutilated carcass. Out in the wilderness, you enter the food
chain, and not at a prime position... keep alert, I thought. My legs seared with lactic acid, painful
notifications in the body like the iPhone buzzes when it receives a text. The synapses fired up to
my brain which said, where the hell you going; the damn bar ain’t this far, or fucking difficult, to
get too? I grieved the harsh loss of civilized comforts like sidewalk strolls to boozy ends with
friends, back in town. Change plays soft, false notes, on our memories. I clipped over the last
few yards to the crest of the ridge, and between those peaks in that rugged Idaho wilderness;
from the heights of busted lungs at the top of barrenly beautiful mountains, over raw,
undisturbed, enter-at-your-own-peril, backcountry glory, like observance of the sea pulls you in.
So did the void of that serenely remote, wild landscape. It beckons eyes that need to see the pain
beauty of truth. It’s an itch to be in the moment and connect with Mother Earth’s, the eternal
home and it’s thriving pulse. I stayed in those woods till the snow came, and I’ve never been the
same.

Punctuality Prospers

The day always arrives.
You should too.
The first step to survive.

Hindsight Can Get Hazy

The sun is fresh.
Flames spray the same way as yesterday.
Death is inevitable,
We’re born to be brave,
The tough ages get the extra decay.
Change slowly comes, nothing might occur,
When things get heavy,
You got lines with drugs to blur.

Nicholas Viglietti

‘Weirdly Impressive Views from Rock Bottom’ & ‘Hard Stools & Dead-End Thoughts’

Anastasia Noelle Pirri is a Connecticut-based photographer, writer, and traveler. When she is not spending most of her time with her cat, she can be found enjoying the beauty nature has to offer.

Weirdly Impressive Views from Rock Bottom

You’ll leave the earth one day.

It won’t be all smiles,
neon nights,
and cocktails in the sun.

You will dip low,
screw up,
incur emotional bruises,
and if you're lucky,
you'll get your heartbroken.

Don’t lose your cool.

It won’t seem like it...but there’s plenty
of reasons to maintain your optimism,
look to the future,
and there will always be an open barstool.

Don’t lose your edge.

Rock bottom can always go up,
long walks improve your stamina,
and feeling strange is better than feeling nothing at all.

Don’t give up.

You’ll leave the earth one day.
Don’t let the living part get away.

Hard Stools & Dead-End Thoughts

Life’s too hard to figure out...my advice: give up, you’re already beat...it’s all stacked against
you, anyway.
Last night looks bleak from the vantage point of a new day...ya got vibes of despair and other sad
sentiments, ejaculated at a poor time in the past, hanging on your brain, and from what I
remember the future had a better glare...but the finest smiles, done walked down the toughest
miles.
A sense of meaning, big or small, grabs traction in the chaos of life – and better men have faired
alright through worse free-falls.
Friends are fleeting, and heart is trivial these days. Unless proven worth-a-shit; you’re gonna
lose some souls before you go gray.
Don’t expect the truth to face your back, fighting forward. Most beliefs are nothing more than
agendas.
Love’s the only reason to live. It’s a pay to play system...and any heart that cares for you with
nothing in return is a privilege. The easy way is to harden your senses on the hike of life and lean
on a tough disposition.
It seems silly...but lighten-up...you didn’t ask to exist...and this digital world will self-pressurize
you into endless pursuit of accomplishment. Although, eventually, if you look out, on the long
drive of life, your pride focuses till it’s wins are simply long stretches of days and no pants full
of shit.
So, let some love eat you alive...there’s no point believing what you see, lies camouflage, and
truth are details you must seek.
Chase what you want. Words are worthless and actions live in eternity. Probably redundant to
say, but you gotta pay to play...it’s important...handle the bills first, though – funny how you got
to work, but the Government can live off your sweat. Nobody is looking out for you, and you
gotta take every damn thing you get.
Nike sloganized the point in our heart beats...get outside, sweat it out...who you were, slowly
fades. Tomorrow is coming and from my last Wiki check, it's the only thing we can’t defeat.
Harsh truths & Father-Time saves no sympathy. Do some favor to your mind and neglect
anything that doesn’t contribute to your precious mindset.
There are no rules, just perceived limitations, and you can contort those to fit the goals in your
imagination.
You died yesterday and today has a chance. Let’s smoke some hope; someday is playing our
tune, and directions full of regret is the wise partner taking your hand at the living dance.

Nicholas Viglietti is a writer from Sacramento, CA. He started writing in high school. After which, he served in the Americorps. He graduated from Humboldt State University. Now, he works for cheap checks and attempts to get words published under his name. Nicholas enjoys hot, lazy days by the pool with his wifey.