I was delighted to learn recently that my poem “How to know if God exists” was chosen as a finalist for the Nancy D. Hargrove editor’s prize from Jabberwock Review. It will appear in their next issue, printed in September. This journal is put together by Mississippi State University. My thanks to the editors and the judge for this wonderful opportunity. Congratulations to the other finalists and the winners.
Jay
Poems place with Blue Fifth Review and RATTLE.
The past couple weeks I have had the good fortune of placing a couple of my poems in Blue Fifth Review and in Rattle Magazine (online).
You can find my poem “Grave robbing a life” in the Spring Issue of Blue Fifth Review. It’s a stunning issue of work, and I am glad to be in it. My thanks to Sam Rasnake for including my poem.
Two days ago, my poem “Gun of a bitch” was published with Rattle as part of the Poets Respond series. This is my second appearance there. My gratitude goes to Timothy Green, for publishing a poem that was bound to get negative responses, which it has, though mostly due to my name being attached to it. If Danez Smith wrote this poem, no one would have blinked I am sure. Anyway, make your own judgments about the work. It responds to George Zimmerman attempting to auction off his weapon that he used to kill Trayvon Martin. It is an uncharacteristically short poem for me. I’m usually long winded.
As always, thanks for checking in, and thank you for your support of poetry.
My Short Story Collection
For those who may not know, I have released a short story collection. It is about 270 pages. I’m calling it, It’s Not All Bad, because not all the stories in it are horror. If you’ve read my poetry and are interested to know what else I write, this could be up your alley, especially if you like work influenced by Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk, Ray Bradbury, and Clive Barker. Please consider giving it a shot, and if you like what you read, give it a review. I’d be most appreciative of your support.
Writing updates!!
My heartfelt thanks to the editors of the following journals for publishing my work this month:
Rat’s Ass Review, for taking the poem “Think of an eclipse.”
Indiana Voice Journal for taking three poems.
Five2One Magazine for taking the poem “A litany.”
Eunoia Review for taking five poems.
And thanks to New Verse News, for taking my poem “An Ode to Justice Antonin Scalia.”
New writing update:
Happy so share some new writing news. I have some new work appearing at Uut Poetry this week. My poem “The proof is in the pudding, Twitter poem #3” went up a few days ago. Check it out. My thanks to the editor.
Also, this week, I was honored to be part of the memorial issue of Unlikely Stories for Michelle Greenblatt. I wrote a poem specifically in her honor, and they included two other pieces of mine in the issue. Thanks to Jonathan Penton for allowing me to contribute to this. Michelle was a wonderful human being.
The second issue of Crow Hollow 19 debuted last week, including the brutally honest work of 14 talented poets. Take a read and let them know if their words moved you.
A new Star Wars poem, written after seeing TFA:
The Nostalgia Awakens
Not a moon, a projection screen,
a bellows pumping light
back to darkened eyes,
a breathing apparatus for those
grown so tired of life
they’ve forgotten how to live.
My heart becomes a tiny fist
with a lightning bug trapped,
tickling the pink palm inside,
leaving its insect smell—
that pungent, licorice-like odor
as it squirms free and flies.
For a while I believe it,
that coincidence can propel adventure
and love can be defined,
that actions are anchors of intention
holding us, binding us together.
I want to believe it still,
but the cold luminance of artifice
waits like lingering frost on the pines,
hints of the winter to come,
memories of childhood
carried like precious fire,
one that must be lit again and again
to rekindle my mind
before the wick is burned gone
and I’ve forgotten why
my throat tastes of smoke
in this black tunnel of stone,
a darkness convincing my eyes they’re blind.
New work update!
A few poems have been published recently, and I owe my thanks to the editors of the publications.
Thanks to Firestone Feinberg for publishing my poem “A poet dies” in the January issue of Verse-Virtual. This poem was a tribute to the late James Tate.
Thanks to James Penha for publishing my response piece to the Tamir Rice grand jury decision on New Verse News. The poems is titled “I killed the child.”
Thanks to Brooks Lampe, runner of Uut Poetry, for publishing two of my social media poems recently. These are experimental poems, and Uut is a great venue for such work.
Also, for those who are not aware, I released my collection of short stories two weeks ago now. If you are interested in my fiction, please check it out. The book is called It’s Not All Bad. Some scary stories in there, along with some work that is intended to make you think.
Video readings 2
This is a reading of my poem “Between Kansas and Oz,” which appeared in Red River Review.
Video readings
This is a video reading of my poem Dear Stepfather, which appears in my chapbook Father Figures, and was also published by Mas Tequila Review.
“What war is good for” published with TruthDig!
My heartfelt thanks to the folks over at TruthDig for sharing a poem of mine today. The poem “What war is good for,” a piece about America’s unending dedication to death, is now live on their site. You can also listen to me read it. I appreciate every person who takes any of their time to read and share or comment. Cheers, and have a good holiday.
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