STIMULANT WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 026 // january 4, 2025

THE WALL

You are never sick so now you got sick
You dragged the minimal stick chair
You put it down way too close to the computer
You watched a Christmas movie for Swedish adults
Depraved Swedish adults
Your posture was impressive
I shouted at you
I called your name
I raised my palms 
I pushed them against an invisible wall
I shouted that there was an invisible wall between us
You looked at me
You said you were going to run very fast 
And smash the wall with your head
Then you warmed up and then you did it

THE FREEDOM FIGHTER

The day before Christmas Eve we go to McDonald’s
Because your mother has to work
We almost always go to the same McDonald’s
The one that still has a playroom
Some kind of padded Gladiator-mazes
Surrounded by tarred nets and signs with rules
There is another kid who’s also there a lot
We recognize him
We think he’s crazy and funny
He’s maybe three years old and we laugh
When he says he owns the place
It’s crazy and funny
You make your way around
You play in the playroom
You follow the rules
Something that makes me proud of you
Is that you stopped choosing books in your Happy Meals
You always chose books before, but now you choose a toy
You should never choose a book at McDonald’s
You should choose chicken nuggets, low-fat milk
Mini carrots, French fries
And a toy
You get a Sonic the Hedgehog-figure
You don’t know who he is
I barely even know who Sonic the Hedgehog is
I say he’s a hedgehog
I say he’s a man
I say he’s fast, crazy, funny
A freedom fighter?
Sure
I say he’s going to save the world

THE OLD SCHOOL

When we pass my old school
I always point at it  
There is my old school 
I say it
So now you know
You say so yourself
You will never forget 
That there is my old school

THE SOLO PERFORMANCE

What day is it today?
Is the preschool closed today?
It’s Thursday and it’s Saint Lucy’s Day
And you will be an elf girl
Your preschool celebrates Saint Lucy’s Day 
The day before Saint Lucy’s Day  
That's probably the preschool norm
I don’t know and I don’t care 
Last year your principal did a solo performance
She sang Silent Night
About 15 children between the ages of 2 and 5
Panicked where they stood
Dressed up
Nervous
Confused
Some certainly sick
But your principal never stopped singing
It was her time to shine
It was chaos
We have it on camera
It was beautiful in its tone deafness
But I don’t think you remember that

THE SPOTS

I was scared when we understood
That the spots that never went away
And that covered one ear, half the cheek
Was Lyme disease
Not that I know if it’s particularly dangerous
I can’t know that
But I was still scared

THE BAND

I usually joke 
That we have a punk band
You and me 
That we are called The Junkies
Both play the ukulele 
And both scream

ELIS MONTEVERDE BURRAU:

https://www.modernista.se/bocker/ironi-anglar

https://www.renateforlag.com/shop/p/frbestll-ambient-4-nstan-terror-bara-nstan-elis-monteverde-burrau

https://www.instagram.com/elis_burrau/

POEMS FOR KORINE was edited by Charlie Zacks.

MAXWELL NORMAN’S ALBUM OF THE WEEK

DIIV - Frog in Boiling Water (2024)

As the year has closed, and I leave a kingdom of snowfall behind me for warmer pastures, I find myself drawn to music which feels like an ending. DIIV’s newest album delivers shoegaze and dream pop in half-collapse, as if a concrete cathedral to a brutalist god is crumbling in slow motion around you. But we must lumber forward through the haze. The chiming of effects-blurred guitars and the patient drums keeping time will bring the foundations of this winter’s palace to dissolution. DIIV has never sounded more like their name; this is a beautiful submersion, a sinking-into, a gradual and inexorable descent. Perfect fit for an album about the creeping dread of modern life. Though days remain dark, remember this: the winter solstice has already passed. And “Fender On the Freeway” is one of the best album closers of the past few years.

STATE OF STIMULANT

Writers’ Workshop January 7 @ Cafe Nocturne (19 Prince Arthur).

This Will Save You Two at Sotterenea.
“This Will Save You” reprint, January something.
“Stimulant Volume Two”, March-ish.
Johnny Carter play.

POEMS FOR KORINE