V. by Donald Ryan

In five minutes the universe will expand, opening around him, turning stars into melodies and melodies into suns, burning a fugue of flames, igniting in him sparks of creativity in the form of firecracker stanzas, exploding crescendos, comets of colors.  In five minutes he will breathe in, breathe out, then turn on the television but watch the golden nebular glow around blue shadows, seeing meaning for the first time in Germanic art deco expressionism, realizing the American dream by realizing the American dream is a state of mind ratified when unconsciously conscious, peacefully piecing circumstance into fate like forenoon, noon, and afternoon transitioning into evening, midnight, and dawn.

Donald Ryan‘s work has appeared in print and online, most recently in Cleaver. He’s also received an honorable mention from Glimmer Train and did editorial work for Tributaries: An Anthology of the Savanah Writers Group. He’s left the world of big city fine dining and is now a full-time part-time librarian for two small, southern cities.