Ain’t Got No Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia

by Alan S. Bridges and Michael Dylan Welch

First published in Prune Juice #33, March 2021. Originally written in May of 2018. Brad Bennett, in Modern Haiku 52:1, Winter–Spring 2021, has an essay titled “Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia,” about the use of long words in haiku. Also see a poem by Aimee Nezhukumatathil (listen here). + + + + + + +

antidisestab

lishmentarianism

not sure what it means Alan

type-type-typing out

onomatopoeia Michael

completing

the computed axial tomography

with claustrophobia Alan

the author’s character’s craving

for methylenedioxymethamphetamine

semiautobiographical Michael

sharing

a cwtch Alan

after the doctor says

immunohistochemistry

I hear nothing Michael