An excerpt from WITH A DIFFERENCE:
Turn your back to the afterlife.
Kick dust into the eyes of it all.”
– Scott Hutchison
You can come in
with your darkness fluttering around
you like flies
on the dead thing,
or shrouded in whichever
style of sadness is in season.
You can sulk in through the door,
quiet toward the corner,
or louder now, if you’re the type
to wrap yourself
in noise.
That’s fine. Come
with your noise.
You are welcome
with your tension, weakness,
all sunken-eyed and weary,
hauling that sack of sorrows,
hidden fears,
and flightless birds.
Bring it all. Whatever
you can’t let go of,
whatever won’t let go of you.
Come how you can.
Anything is okay.
Just don’t spiral off
out there, head in your hands,
drifting faster and faster
toward the exit.
Forget about the beyond
for awhile.
All of that can wait.
With a Difference is a cross-genre collection of short fiction and poetry by Nick Gregorio and Francis Daulerio. Influenced by split EPs made popular by many bands a couple decades ago, this collection is being affectionately referred to as a “cover split” in which Gregorio has adapted ten of Daulerio’s poems into short stories, and Daulerio has morphed ten of Gregorio’s stories into poems. Expected from Trident Press in May 2020, this collection mirrors its musical influences by featuring two front covers designed by Adde Russel–the mastermind behind the album art of Death Cab for Cutie’s Transatlanticism and Plans–and the need for readers to physically engage with the book by flipping it over to read each side, just like a favorite vinyl record. Please visit www.nickgregorio.com, and/or www.francisdaulerio.com for more information.