Article 14 – Zephyr’s Gun

I am a self-taught artist,
done a lot of things,
been to a lot of places,
seen a lot of things.
My art is fringe and usually pretty weird
and my writing is dark–
a reflection
of the world I live in.
Now I live north of 55,
for a long time, I love the people
don’t really dig the weather
I try to live in a good way, participate
in ceremony.
I love my Tulip to the end of the world.

This story of Zephyr’s Gun is set in NYC.
I lived in Spanish Harlem
for five years, 149th and Broadway, seen the
Metropole, and lived in it.
so I write about it.

I hung out in the lounge
at the top of the Twin Towers
112 stories up every payday.
cheap beer, good sushi, hell of a view.
then someone crashed planes
into them.

The characters in my story
are messed up, but
real life is even messier than that.
If you dig my story I’ll
go for chapter two.

Be careful—
this story is for Mature Audience only.
It is full of foul language, ultra-violence
but explicit content.

About the Artist/Author: Paul Nicholas Matczuk, an adult student, currently studies English and History to decide what to take in the future for his academic training. In addition to art, he loves reading and sharing his readings with his peers in class. He also works part time in UCN library on Thompson campus. He likes to support UCN community with his art talent. Paul imagines that “The People’s Republic”, a creative collective space he started in Instagram, where art, culture and identity will meet in the future.

Instructor’s Remarks: I am very pleased to recommended Paul for this edition of the Muse. I came to know Paul when he enrolled in my Composition and Rhetoric course this past semester, and over this semester, I have seen him grow both as a creative writer and as a good essay writer. In addition, over the duration of our course, I discovered he is a serious reader of contemporary thought, and many of these works have provided material for either his written works, or became material for our class discussion. I want to thank Paul for his energetic presence in class. I think his future is going to be a very creative one, so we all should pay serious attention to what he is creating now. (Dr. Gilbert McInnis, Senior Writing Instructor, Coordinator, UCN Writing Centre)