The Roadmap of Greek Comedy
Nicole Tognarina
MILE 1: Greek
boulder, growing moss
moss, growing
growing?
no,
growing is movement,
is crawling forward and found still in the same place
is aching for more and finding the same
is Orpheus, turning back
well
that’s what the Fates say
boulder
roll
-ing
up
and
down
and
up
the
same
hill,
drill
-ing
a
path
into
the dirt
tearing out the
grass
and pushing life away
the dirt is soft and kind
erosion does not exist from this viewpoint
atop the boulder looking with a quarter
zooming blurs the picture
MILE 3: Comedy
what is always running,
but never moves?
your refrigerator
is melting and it’s sat too long
soaked at the sole and stifled
the water muddied impurity
he was not built for this place
all rippled and shifted
and merged and fought
and broken
but the mirror
reflected familiarity
- so harsh and dirty at first
yet the edges softened,
the curves soothed
his body cleaned, swirled through
round and young, such beauty beholden-
it bubbles within me g
and i l u
a h
merciless in narration
of the blind fool and his beauty:
-he sank, escaped
swallowed in his vision searching
for cohesion,
coherence but
too wide the breadth;
too fast the time;
himself left fragmented
his vision left foggy
and then-
persistent,
relentless,
the image is forever
and ever he remains.
MILE 6: Roadmap
m a p,
hand - drawn.
eight years old entertaining herself lying
(this is her job)
she crafted the words, mastermind
smooth in her hands.
alone in her story, alone in the woods,
her myth lies and stories
is all she sees
farewell, wanderlust,
she hardly knew you!
Spring 2026