Zom: A Verse Novella

Zom is indestructible. He loves to work and can do anything physical, far beyond what is expected of him – but he can’t find a job. He tries working as a deep sea fisherman, plays professional football, soldiers in the desert. Something always goes wrong – fish eat his appendages, he loses an arm, he gets shot. But nothing stops Zom. He regenerates his body parts and treks on. Across town, Zera wants a daughter. In her loneliness, she recalls past experiences and dreams of a future where she and her daughter are happy, free and wise to the cruelties of the world. Zera wants a man, but someone who’s real, kind and not someone who trolls the dating sites. Zom’s friend, Bingo 5, astonished at Zom’s inability to find a job, decides Zom needs a woman. He helps Zom create ads and post them on Match.com. Zom has a dream A woman sat beside me on a bench.She smelled like pizza.For the first time in my life, I wanted to eat pizza.She looked at me and smiled.For the first time in my life, I wanted to smile back. I tried to smile but all my face could dowas say “Pickle.”She rose up from the bench like a grackleand sat on my shoulder pecking my ear.When I woke up, my earlobe was gone. Written by poet and novelist Tom Timmins and illustrated with raw, intimate paintings by Jim Corwin-Johnson, ZOM exposes our drives for love, good work, and testing of ourselves against the world.