ok, Paul, so why should we read YOUR journal ???

I genuinely enjoy seeing someone’s bogus sense of self-entitlement completely disrupted by the words or opinions of a Deluge contributor. I cannot help that this disrupted person is almost always a white heterosexual male.

I’m obviously not doing any of this for approval from others. I don’t care if anyone disapproves of the kind of writing I’m distributing. I’m doing this to challenge readers. I’m doing this so people who are pissed off about a specific experience or situation have an outlet other than Facebook. I’ve been doing this since 2009 and I plan to continue doing this.

All joking aside, I think everyone should read Deluge because it is a celebration of bodies in the sense that I frequently choose to publish work by writers opposed to phobic violence against all bodies. I am sharing stories of bodies engaged with the resistance of corporate bodies.

And here let me quote myself:

The contents of an issue of Deluge is so many things at once. It might involve a critique of whiteness or the regulations that exist within sociality. It might contain work that is belligerently orgiastic and, at the same time, it might even contain work that is anti- male orgasm. Deluge is a bookshelf on which Solanas’s SCUM Manifesto and Warhol’s Blue Movie transcript both rest. Deluge is when Kim Vodicka writes, “Yes, I am a big ‘ol bitch, and you best / stand behind me. / Feminist is next to godliness.” It is when Roberto Montes writes, “I hear an October voice / Telling me to fuck / Is this racist / The white boys ask / When they grab my butt / Really wondering / How anyone could be different / Or turned like a gasket out.” When Monica McClure writes, “But all I really want / is to live a good life / paid for by someone who feels / illiterate in symbolic systems of manhood / For him I will fill a bathtub / with expensive rosewater / that I got for free in swag bags / I’ll stuff holes with pure sugar cane / bought with the IMF budget of countries / who failed to understand the compromising / nature of relationships.” It is when you and Gary write lines like, “the wilderness knows i am a real fucking pig, and apples my mouth, over and over / i let myself get frosted by all the men dressed as trees.”

Shit happens. Poetry happens. “Same shit, different bidet,”as Vodicka will point out. The readers of Deluge are so important to me. Non-readers are even more important. I think reaching out to non-readers is an incredibly important thing to do. And tumblr is just one of the ways I’ve been able to successfully do that. Young artists seem to primarily visit tumblr to ‘like’ and ‘reblog’ photos and pictures. They’re not always expecting a particular photo or picture to contain a poem or an excerpt from an essay or short story. They’re not always expecting to come into contact with writing. And, thankfully, writing can be infectious. These are free poems, short stories, essays. They’re a click away. Deluge is a free online magazine. Immediacy is undeniably important in 2014! There are plenty of print journals out there that are nothing more than decent at best substitutes for Metamucil. And some of them will charge you just to submit work for consideration. I don’t know about other editors, but having the privilege to share the work of an artist—whether previously unknown or already established—with another person or artist is one of the only times I do not feel powerless in U-S-A land.

w/ Flowers — “powerless in U-S-A land”  — since 2009!!!!!

And you, Rauan, shameless dirtbag, actually have some work in this issue! That could be a good reason to read it, right? I’m publishing two collaborative poems that you and Gary Shipley wrote. I’m also really looking forward to his forthcoming book, The Face Hole. And you already know what I think of your work. (Hiss! Hiss!) Jesus, I can’t believe you forgot I was publishing you already! Typical celebrity. Does that dressing room of yours come with a guest book?! I know you’ve headlined a few hit lists since Sky Rat, but show some restraint. Seriously. Maybe a pair of handcuffs? A nice ball gag or harness?—something! Ah, well, I guess it’s not entirely your fault. We’re both pretty busy people, but that’s no excuse. I should pay more attention to you. Which reminds me—thanks for all those helpful comments on my latest draft of Alex Dimitrov’s Selfies—You Are My Eternal God. Your suggestions were especially encouraging on photos like “Two Nipples R Better Than None,” “Looking Out Car Window Longingly,” and “Floral Arrangement Near My Face . . . Again.” Yes, Rauan, I think we’ve definitely got something here. As the French might say: C’est la pierre précieuse qui découvre soi-même.

All joking aside, again (ha!): I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that Deluge No. 3 contains work from: Sade Murphy, Monica McClure, Ginger Ko, Brooke Ellsworth, Roberto Montes, Ed Steck, Colin Post, Jamison Crabtree, Rachel Zavecz, Drew Kalbach, Coop Lee, Madeline Weiss, Elaine Hsiang, Josh Fomon, Jace Brittain, Chanelle Bergeron, Gary Shipley, Rauan Klassnik, and Rebecca Loudon. It also contains poetry and porn collages by featured artist, Kim Vodicka. It’s slated for a mid-September release and I invite everyone to check it out.

“NSFW 4 lyfe”               (Paul Cunningham, 8/2014, Pittsburgh)