ANDREW BORGSTROM’S ORIGINAL:

FROM: AROUND HERE

Effect

Around here, they master the art of speaking to each other about another with the another present and unaware of the direction or intention of the speaking. The speech between the others turns outward as well as inward, inward from the another and outward about the another, so the another feels like an other. A not her.

We know the ending like it just happened. As it did. We will start somewhere near around here, real close to the end. Like humans. As we did. In the beginning we neared the end. The end.

It was around here. Imagine it was around here. What’s supposed to around here. Too much around here. What you want to do around here. Whatever with the little around here. We don’t recall around here. Around here, we never recall anything until after. Like humans around here. We did it around here. Around here, we wouldn’t recommend it. Until after everything around.

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Effect

Until we went for drinks and remembered she drank the same drink we went for, and then almost asked someone in the kitchen if we went for her drink, but thought better and asked, “Where’s her?” and this was a better thought but not a better question, and the answer said downstairs, and the answer said weren’t you just down there, and said weren’t you just talking to her, and said isn’t that her drink in our left hand, and then said a look, said a look at our look, looking into us, and said are we okay around here, and we thought better and said better to everyone not her.

Around here. Around here. Here. Here. Around here. Around here. Around here. Around here. Around, around, around here. We’re around here years old around here. Now around here. Around here. Enrolled in remedial around here. Around here. Hence, the remedial. Here, around here. Enrolled in the around here course. Of course, we’re not doing that well.

She’s Samantha around here. With a man in the middle. Without a man to hold, she is satha, a hats, tasha. She needs a man to. She needs to. We change her name to Sara around here. Then we drop the Sara.

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Effect

A man told us he counted every hug. 249, he said. Around here, we said. He looked at us like a number, around here said.

Stop for. For the stop. For the good time to get off. You the man around here. I want to around here. More than you want me around here. So much more than you. You in their bed and us alone and you. We are you. No one is other than. Let us make this very clear.

The sound hit the breast. The point of you. You for nothing. Because I want you here and around. Because I have the. How we can’t play the. This you’ve and never heard. This. You and if you. Around and here.

Cracked leather we forgot to put the oil on to prevent the cracking. Faded leather in the car we forgot to have the windows tinted in to prevent the fading. Right there, around here there. Her there, around here and there. We painted the leather.

We definitely won’t keep the puppets. Won’t be needing or keeping any puppets around here. Around these here parts.

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THE REMIX:

FROM: AROUND HERE (W/ ALLIGATORS)

Around here, like humans,

Around here, imagine. Around here, what’s supposed to be. Around here, others. Anothers, here. Everyone not her, here. Around, others. Here, drinks. Her lips, here. Around, she. Drinks. She, around. She, around here. She, lips. Eyes, around here. Samantha, around here. Others than her, around here. The fading, around here. The oil, around here. The eyes, yellow. Around here, everyone not her. Around here, a hissing. Around here, a man to hold. Around here, alligators.

Here, us just talking. Here, around, their bed. Here, lost. Here, eyes. Here, the point of you. Here, Sa—Here, painted leather. Here, Satha. Here, hats. Here, around. Tasha, now. Around here and there, others. Al—another. Eyes, here. Lips, just talking. Here, lost. Here, a hissing. Here, others. Here, Sara. Here, humans. Here, we drop. Around, Sara. Here, around. Here, we. Here, alligators. Here, around, alligators. Here, everyone. Here, not she. Here, not her. Here, not Sa—. Here, Sa—. Here, around,

Here, around, like humans, we neared

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Remixer’s process: I’m always impressed with how Mr Borgstrom’s prose works on the micro level and with this mix I wanted to see how “micro” the piece could go, with both rhythm and sense. To start, I condensed the various sections into one block of words and phrases. After this, I stopped referencing the original and started tinkering with punctuation and italics while slowly pruning, pruning, pruning. I added in the alligators during this pruning process and this, I’ll admit, was partly an amusing indulgence since alligators, hissing, and yellow eyes are common to my work. Partly, these inclusions were meant to accentuate the relationships between the other units of text. Late in the process (5 minutes ago), I decided to break the block of text into the different parts you see now, if only to help the eyes.