Alaskan & Western Reflections

by  Jerry Dale McDonnell©2014                                                       Published in MungBeing#56--2014 Scene 1 While he was surveying at his meager library (14 narrow shelves in three freestanding units and 3 hung with adjustable brackets) he finds a slim one-page quarter folded pamphlet opening at a measurement of 11 x 17 inches (roughly) titled “Obscurity,” by Don Skiles, published by Cross+Roads Press, Ellison Bay, Wisconsin. Yes, he remembers it. A gift. Opens it to its full size and begins reading. Now consider just three evenings past while he was awaiting to read a piece of his own at the launching of a literary journal he was sitting next to a woman whose photo was the cover of the new edition of Cirque (not or herself, but an abstract image) made mention of a poet of which he did not have knowledge. Published ...

by Jerry Dale McDonnell©2014 Published in MungBeing #56 (reflections) Numbers III 1 . Ratios Bees construct hexagon hives—6 sides—made of wax and honey. Some brown bears have 3 cubs if honey and fish are plentiful.   Everyone starts with 1 mother and 1 father             some end with 3 or more grandfathers                         maybe 2 or more grandmothers. 2. Orders 17 years old. Boot camp. Herded. Stripped. Hair cut like a con. Civvy Clothes bagged and tagged like bodies.   New uniforms stuffed in a duffle. Fall in. Atteeen shun!   Our first 2 orders: 1. You will never forget your serial number as long as you live.             2. You will only remember the good times. We lived in ...

by  Jerry Dale McDonnell©2014  Published in Over the Transom #25--2014 Here's to small pills and wine and limited debauchery as energy allows. Live like Zorba, think like Zorba.  Life is trouble. No trouble, No!  Loosen your belt and let life live.  I'm listening to Gregory Porter and have been re-reading Zorba by my main man Nikos Kazantzakis. A mixed drink of life. Potent. Necessary.  And now the third glass of Pinot Noir: Mandatory.    I'm  . . . okay, really. Fantastic. I‘m dancing on the keyboard.