Bumble Jacket Miscellany
a miscellany for poetry and fiction
Winter 2011
Published by: Bumble Jacket Miscellany Publishing
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 by Bumble Jacket Miscellany Publishing.
VOLUME 2 NUMBER 2
Bumble Jacket Miscellany
a miscellany for poetry and fiction
Published by Bumble Jacket Miscellany Publishing at Smashwords. Bumble Jacket Miscellany (ISSN: 2155-1324) is published biannually by Bumble Jacket Miscellany Publishing. Address editorial correspondence to bumblejacketmisc@gmail.com
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Edited by Meredith E. Torre
Cover and Illustrations
Meredith E. Torre
Contents
Poetry
Michael Lee Johnson
James G. Piatt
Jerome Brooke
Janine Surmick
Joseph Buehler
Andy Psomopoulos
Rodney Nelson
William Doreski
Fresh from the One Great Holstein
Meredith E. Torre
Fiction
Jennifer York
Joseph Buehler
M. E. Mitchell
Leaves in December
Michael Lee Johnson
Leaves, a few stragglers in
December, just before Christmas,
some nailed down crabby
to ground frost,
some crackled by the bite
of nasty wind tones.
Some saved from the matchstick
that failed to light.
Some saved from the rake
by a forgetful gardener.
For these few freedom dancers
left to struggle with the bitterness:
wind dancers
wind dancers
move your frigid
bodies shaking like icicles
hovering but a jiffy in sky,
kind of sympathetic to the seasons,
reluctant to permanently go,
rustic, not much time more to play.
Fly Wings
Michael Lee Johnson
Black wings
landing on unwanted
space, like the devil
in bad spots that itch
fly swatter hammers,
summer fly body parts splatter
blood crucifixion red,
blood stains splat against the kitchen wall.
Blood crucifixion red
Dead? Sacrifice?
Or does Jesus call, resurrect all?
Black wings.
Do Not Tell Me Lies
James G. Piatt
Do not tell me lies about
The green falling waves,
That crash carelessly upon
The burning sand,
Or massive rising
Clouds which cling to the
Bottom of the sky
In amazement;
Do not huddle in the back of
My dark earth bound brain, where
Songs of yesterday still lie
Silent, and dormant:
Do not pull upon my
Searching heart,
Nor correct the rhymes
That echo noisily
Inside my eager soul, or in the
Unfulfilled longing
Within my being,
Bring to me gaudy prisms
Of beautiful vibrant
Colors that will reflect
Delightful images
In my drifting senses;
Give me a desire,
A hunger for truth, and
For all that
Is delightful,
Pleasing, and
Alive!
Leaving
James G. Piatt
Leaving painful thoughts
Leaving hours of darkness
Leaving them,
Unloosening my
Lover’s hand,
Leaving our memories
Dreads and fears
In the beat of my heart;
Leaving the lonely song,
Death’s lonely song,
Death’s dark lonely song:
Subtle and sorrowful
Yet strident the notes,
To and fro they go
Filling the hours
Of darkness
Waning and falling,
Yet in the Fullness of the
Orange and pink morning,
The sun replete with joy
Covers the gaping hole,
The darkness of the earth:
I leave her and leave
My song with her then
Gazing to the west with
Silver beads upon my cheeks
I communicate silently,
With her fleeing, soul.