Sue Beatrice studied at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts before creating her own uniquely fabulous company All Natural Arts. Her wildly imaginative work ranges from tiny intricate sculptures to carved pumpkins and everything in between.

21st-Century Romance

Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, lady, were no crime.

Andrew Marvell To His Coy Mistress

Darling, switch off your tablet for a sec.
I want to touch the swan-curve of your neck.

My love, turn softly from your phone’s embrace.
I want to feel the landscape of your face.

Had we but world and time enough, my dear,
I’d like to kiss the conch shell of your ear.

Had we but world and time enough, dear heart,
I’d like to fondle every body part.

Had you but world and time to look at me,
You’d find a big fan of your corsetry.

Release your fingers from those tiny keys.
I want to sit upon your perfect knees.

Sweet lady, lift your eyes up from the screen.
My thoughts about you verge on the obscene.

Your constant blogging fills me with despair.
I fantasise about your underwear.

Is all that cyber-hugging so fantastic?
I want to test the tug of your elastic.

But now I see you’re otherwise engaged
Texted, tweeted, skyped and pinged and paged

I’ll simply dream about you nude in bed
And message you and email you instead.

Are you available another day?
That’s all for now. (I love you, by the way.)

Robert Wilkinson is a poet who hales from the midlands in the UK. He loves reading, writing, walking, travelling, poetry, gardening, cookery, nature, art, music, and Marmite. He is also interested in languages, philosophy, myth and religion; and Buddhism in particular holds a strong appeal. He can be found blogging about all of those things at The Solitary Walker.

With Bret Michaels and Mike Hammond in Knoxville, TN, November 1, 2014

Lynn Herron is best known as an international concert promoter and from his work in radio. He learned the ropes of the music industry from his father Ledford Herron. He started working as a drum tech for some county music acts in 1988 and moved on to merchandise in 1990. While selling merchandise he expanded to booking shows as well. He recently created the show Who Rocks Sports; Where Music Meets Sports with Lynn Herron, on WNFZ 94.3, starting January 10, 2015, Saturdays 2-3 Eastern time out of Knoxville, TN. After 25 years in the business Lynn continues to help create first rate shows for artists and fans alike. In addition to expanding into radio and television, he is currently promoting Bret Michaels to sold out crowds, in addition to working with Rick Springfield and Rodney Atkins among others.

When did you first develop your love of music? Who were some of your earliest influences?

I’ve loved music forever. My father has toured with many artists so I grew up around music and concerts.

How did you first get your start in radio?

In radio, as a music promoter you have to have radio help your concerts. You’ve got to do interviews pumping up the shows and I decided to kinda dive in. I love talking about sports and today’s issues.

What do you love most about being a radio personality?

The show is new so I’m still working on that. But having music friends in all areas of music I thought it’s the perfect world to mix music and sports.

Why do you think rock music and sports mix so well?

It mixes well because music and sports just walk hand in hand. We will be featuring country music too.

How did Who Rocks Sports come about? Can you tell our readers what to expect from the show?

The show title came from help from the flagship station in Knoxville,TN. The listening audience can expect up to the minute scores and a mixture of comedy and music.

You also have worked as a concert promoter. What is the most challenging thing about that? What does it take to put on a truly great show? Do you think the public underestimates how much hard work it takes to keep the masses entertained?

Wow! We could talk a lot about being a concert promoter. The fans have no idea all the work that goes into it. From the venue, catering to feed the band and crews, Advertising, hotels, the buses, trucks, and planes, it is a lot of hard work making the music happen.

Any moments from over the course of your career that stand out most in your mind?

There are a couple. One was several years ago at Sony Signatures, a merchandising and licensing company being tapped to run the Nashville operations for that division. A couple others we getting the coin to the city in Yakima, Washington and as of late Bret Michaels and I got the boot to the city in Ft. Smith.

What advice would you offer others wishing to pursue a career in the music industry of today?

Advice. You gotta believe you can win to win!

What do you see yourself doing when you finally decide to retire, or is this something you plan on doing until you die?

I wouldn’t mind being a football recruiter for a major college.

Starting December 6 you can catch Lynn Saturdays from 2-3 Eastern on Who Rocks Sports; Where Music Meets Sports with Lynn Herron, at WFNZ 94.3 Knoxtalkradio.

Promo video via Austin Walker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbfVxerQbO4&feature=youtu.be

Metastasis

Light drifts on a wave as it flows through
The point where space and time converge,
A sea from which images are disassembled
And reconstructed
The waves converge with the maelstroms
Spinning in your eyes
And the point of the sea blossoms,
Blossoms—a model assembled
Inside you, a moment reflected and
Filtered by you
Then you reject it: you cast light onto
A wave and watch the current
Drag it away from you
More models assemble and
Disassemble
And the points where space and time
Converge
Shift and transform
They alter you
And you, them

Fred Larucci is the creator of the art site The Night Gallery (no relation to the television series of the same name). A self taught artist he deals with portraits. Having an infinite fascination with the human face he never works with the same subject twice.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I was born and raised in Chicago. I currently have the Night Gallery Studio located in Woodstock, Illinois – this is where I do my work. I’ve always been a Portrait Graphite Illustrator and In my eyes I’m not a self-taught artist, I’ve always have known how to draw from the time I was 7 or that I could remember. I really consider myself more of a master forger than an artist although I believe the two go hand in hand. It’s important to understand what you’re looking at – why things are located where they are located. I’ve always had this uncanny ability of drawing exactly what I see and almost make exact duplicates on paper. I also adapt very fast seeing where I’m going wrong and correct my errors.

Did you develop a love of art from an early age or was it something you picked up along the way?

A long time ago Someone asked me once, “How do you see things,”…I said, “Differently.” For me, when I view something and I’ll try to make some sense here, some people can look at a flower and just see the flower, I see that flower in different different views, different things around it – I imagine a lot and study my reference shots sometimes for months on end especially faces.

Who are some of your influences?

My parents, they inspire me and are the hardest working Individuals I know – Art related, it’s the true Masters (Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael & Titian).

What are some of the most challenging things an artist faces when being self taught?

Well here is my take on self taught artists and not natural born talent, from what I see here on the net and on social media sites is that many so called artists don’t take advice too well, they take it personal which I find hilarious, in the real world, established artists, publishers and other professionals in this business will just tell you to hit the road. Social Media sites like Deviantart, Facebook and Twitter have given many the illusion of success – it has made them self proclaimed overnight artists and professional wannabes – they don’t want to learn, take criticism, learn from their mistakes like the old school artists had to deal with from the beginning – all they want is for their art, art page or website to be a reality show – catering to fans, likes, shares, and any other nonsense they put out there, feeding off their own delusions of greatness. The Challenge for many is if you put yourself out there, you better suck it up and take criticism because that is the main reason why you are out there in the first place – to show your work and learn to get better.

What do you think is the most important thing to remember when learning anything on ones own?

To accept and love what you’re doing – to constantly learn no matter how good you think you are, you can always learn something new and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Why do you work mainly with faces? What is about them that you find so fascinating?

Faces are fascinating, I don’t do multiples or full body shots as not to take away from the main focus feature which to me…is the face. Doing faces or a portrait is tricky because you have to get everything exactly correct proportion wise, if you are slightly off with one feature, the face will look like someone completely different. I like faces because they are a challenge, not as technical as my coin drawings but just as difficult especially Illustrating someone famous, each one tells a story if you capture it correctly.  Anyone can draw a face, creating one to look exactly like the person you are illustrating is something totally different.

It is true you never work with the same subject twice? Why is that?

Yes, that is correct. I want to be different. I want to draw and capture a subject in that moment in time then move on. Inspiration is key and it’s important to have it when creating art, one reason why I don’t accept commission work that involves the same subjects, for me you lose something doing subjects over and over again, you lose that mojo inspiration – the very thing that got you going the first time around, to me your art becomes dull and flat – time to move on. I continue to do a subject only once in my current art portfolio.

Why was The Night Gallery created? Do people ever get it confused with the series of the same name? Were you a fan of that show?

The Night Gallery was created to show the world my art. To have a one stop viewing site. In the old days you lugged around a portfolio, binders or sketchpads of your art – from there I went to photographers and got my art on negatives ultimately ending up in albums – Social Media has given many an easy simple way to showcase their art through the internet. The Night Gallery name wasn’t in way any based on the actual show, I was told early on that my work had a slightly dark tone or side to each piece so I simply used the word “Night” and then added what it is a “Gallery” for my Social media art pages. For the record I also loved Rod Serling’s show back in the 7o’s but the name wasn’t based on that.

I know you also support various artists through social media and other mediums. Do you think it is important to encourage others in your line of work?

Yes, but this is a trick question and I know one when I see one. Encouraging others is always a great thing to do. You have to give support but  choose your opportunities carefully. Many artists lose focus, being an artist isn’t about how popular you make yourself out to be on your art page, it’s really all about your work. You  have to be careful with giving advice to others in my experiences on Social Media sites.

How do you ever get discouraged in your career? How do you deal with such things.

I try very hard to just focus on my art, what I know I can do even though from time to time I need to get slapped back to reality. Yes I do get discouraged seeing things especially here on social media getting attention it doesn’t deserve. The weird thing about being digital is that most people have an attention span of about 3 seconds and would rather support something brainless or of lower quality simply because it fits within that category and they can relate to. I know of so many great artists like Jude Ickes from Kaleidoscope doing some masterful art getting no exposure when some Shock artist site puts something out there and gets all the attention. That’s what probably disappoints me the most about this career.

Are there any little known things about you that our readers might be surprised to learn?

My profession is in Mechanical Engineering and that has actually helped me create my coins in my coin series because they are more technical in nature than the constant flowing accuracy of Portrait art work. I’ve been a Mechanical Engineer for the past 25 years and continue to do it until this day. Other than that, one note: I use about 10 blending stumps per drawing, once the tip is gone, I trash em.

What do think you would be doing at this point in your life if you weren’t an artist?

Good question, I really don’t know. The definition of an artist is pretty broad. To say if you were not an artist – to me you’d be pretty dull. We all create each and every day – we all create something in life, life to me is an art form. I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else.

What do you hope people take away from your work?

I’ve said this many times in the past and I’ll say it again, I want to wow people when they look at my work, but if I had to think of one thing I want someone to take away from my art is when they personally tell me I inspire them, that what they’ve seen from my work got them back into art, – That’s the most satisfying part of doing what I do.

Is there anything you’d like to say before you go?

Thank you. Thank you Van Gogh’s Ear for giving me this opportunity to show my art to your readers and to showcase my art in one of your editions. One of the goals every artist looks for is to eventually get published and again, I thank you for that opportunity, it’s much appreciated.

For more information please see The Art of Fred Larucci, Facebook, and DeviantArt.

“Let’s go over and visit Lucy.” Mother collects her playing cards and her bag of pennies.

“Okay Mom,” says Johnny.

Lucy lives two blocks over. At Lucy’s house everyone starts off sober. They sit at the brown card table. Mother produces cards and the bag of pennies. The pennies get distributed.

The first poker hand is dealt by Mother. Johnny wins. He scrapes up the pot.

“Lucky,” says Mother, smiling. Johnny smiles back as he stacks the pennies.

Lucy goes to get highballs for she and Mother. Cigarette smoke snakes from the big green ashtray. As Lucy walks off the carpeted floor, barefoot onto the linoleum, she starts to cough and gag. As she gets the drinks she is gagging and coughing and this continues until she is back on the warmly carpeted floor. Mother and Lucy hold the cigarettes in their mouths as Johnny asks “What’s the matter, Aunt Lucy? Why are you choking?”

“I always gag when I walk barefoot on linoleum,” she says, sitting down.

“So why don’t you put on a pair of socks?”

“Ah, no big deal. It won’t kill me.”

Mother smiles.

Lucy deals the second hand of poker. Pennies lie in piles in front of each of them. They toss pennies in the pot and drink the highballs as they play. The second hand is also won by Johnny.

Lucy is a retired hairdresser. Styrofoam heads in fancy wigs line the windowsill in the living room. The children pedaling by in the summer point and comment about the blank faced well-groomed heads in the window of the bright brick house.

“Look at the heads—“

“Weird!”

Mother and Lucy have another highball each and then switch to vodka and orange juice. Lucy and Mother are getting buzzed. Johnny’s sipping at his Coke. The smoke lies in layers about the three. Johnny deals the third hand, which Lucy wins. As a part time job, Lucy does the hair of corpses down at Bronson’s Funeral Home. It pays enough money to keep her in liquor. She gets the brandy. They are drunk now. Butts litter the ashtray and some of the butts spilled off onto the tabletop. Mother deals the next hand, and wins the game and the pot of pennies. They switch to seven and seven. Bottles are on the table along with glasses and the full ash tray. The fifth hand is dealt by Lucy. Johnny wins the hand. Johnny’s got the most pennies since he has won three hands out of five. Lucy goes to the kitchen gagging and coughing and gets the whiskey, a couple of shot glasses and two forty ounce beers. Johnny drinks Coke. They are drunk now. Lucy talks about old Mom Potter, the best corpse she ever worked on at the funeral home.

“Her hair was so fine, so soft. So easy to do.”

“It was like she’d been alive; I almost found myself making conversation with her as I did her hair.”

They all chuckle. Mother goes to the bathroom as Johnny deals the sixth hand. Mother sways back and woozily sits down. They drink the shots and beers. They are plastered. Lucy wins the hand and they decide to stop playing poker. A cigarette dangles from Lucy’s mouth as she asks if anyone wants coffee. The smoke dances around the tip of the cigarette in time with her words. Lucy goes to get coffee, gagging and choking. Lucy is a widow. Her husband is in a shallow grave dug in the dead of winter. Mother is divorced and Johnny’s going to see his father tomorrow. The two women are plastered; they each have a final cigarette and coffee and chat, until Johnny drains his Coke and pipes up.

“I’m looking forward to seeing Daddy.”

Mother frowns and flashes her eyes at Lucy. Lucy’s mouth is set.

Johnny fingers the empty Coke bottle, before adding:

“It’ll be good.”

“Yeah, it’ll be good,” said Mother, nodding, looking down.  “It’ll be real good.”

Mother rises frowning and boxes up the cards and sweeps the pennies back into the bag. Lucy looks on helplessly, watching Mother’s face—then she rummages in a bag and hands something to Mother.

“Here,” she said—“Here’s a breath mint. It’ll help—“

Mother takes the mint. She wants to say something but has no words. Johnny helps his Mother home toward Father. He at least will be glad to see Father. Father, and another dark night to follow, before the next poker game with Lucy.

Jim Meirose’s work has appeared in numerous magazines and journals, including Collier’s Magazine, the Fiddlehead, Witness, Alaska Quarterly review, and Xavier Review, and has been nominated for several awards. Two collections of his short work have been published and his novels, Claire, Monkey, and Freddie Mason’s Wake are available from Amazon.

Frederick Cooper is an artist and illustrator who resides in Hickory, NC. He is also the owner of Jackhammer productions.

The mysterious new documentary What Ever Happened to Norma Jeane? is preparing to bring the world the most honest and in-depth look into the life of the woman behind the myths. While the exact release date is being kept under wraps, a few new details have recently emerged. A project done out of love for the woman who charmed the world with her beauty and sense of humor — this film will be taking a closer look at her faith in the power of the mind and prayer that ultimately led to her astonishing rise to success.

Scott Schwartz appeared in The Toy alongside Richard Pryor and Jackie Gleason in 1982. The following year he went on to play Flick in A Christmas Story, providing the now infamous scene in which his tongue sticks to a frozen pole. Schwartz also worked in television appearing on a couple episodes of ABC Afterschool Special, the made for TV movie A Time to Live (with Liza Minnelli, Corey Haim, and Jeffrey DeMunn), and an episode of 21 Jump Street among others. After a stint in the adult film industry Scott went on to help create a line of celebrity trading cards known as Americana, going on to write for the sports card magazine Beckett in 2008. He is listed as #85 on Vh-1’s The Greatest: 100 Greatest Child Stars.

Aside from acting from staring your career in acting at the age of 9 what was your childhood like? How did it change most when you became an actor?

My childhood was pretty normal, grew up in Bridgewater, NJ, was attending school at Eisenhower Middle school, playing sports, riding my bike to school, playing with my friends, all normal stuff really. Until the films nothing changed so to speak. I wasn’t able to play “school team” sports as my time was taken up by auditions and commercial jobs.

Previous to getting the movies I did a few shows in NY, one off-Broadway and one Broadway show, Frankenstein at the Palace Theatre. Those were fun experiences and I got the chance to work with some really terrific people like Diane Wiest, Tom Moore, John Glover, John Carradine, and Jill P. Rose.

You have worked alongside your father at his sports and movie memorabilia shop since 1987. Do you think it is fair to say the two of you are close? What would you say is the most important thing you have learned from him over the years?

I haven’t always worked alongside my dad since 1987. I did many other jobs along the way but always helped him when he needed me. I’d say we’ve been close and not close, that’s how fathers-sons go, good times and bad, nothing different than any other Father-Son relationship I’m sure.

I learned a lot about business. I worked with my dad growing up when we lived in NJ and he was a window cleaner, I used to get up at5:30am and work with him from the time I was probably 12 or so, during the summers and school vacations. I learned the value of a dollar, work ethic, how to treat people, how to deal with good and bad situations. Many things we see, hear and comprehend we don’t even realize end up becoming learning tools to use all throughout life.

Is it true he was Elvis’ company clerk in Germany? Did he ever talk about what Elvis was like as a person?

Yes, that is true. My dad Dan was Elvis’ company clerk in Germany, in fact he was on the ship going there, where all those people (mostly women) were screaming and going nutty, my dad was right there on shipboard. My dad talked to Elvis pretty much every day as he had to get his pass to get off the base and my dad was the company clerk, so he’d come in and say “Hello Danny, I gotta get my pass” (in his Elvis voice of course), so my dad would get the pass, get it signed off on and Elvis would be on his way to his home right off the base. Dad says Elvis was just a normal guy, if he saw my dad walking on the other side of the street, he’d always yell “Hey Danny, how you doin?” with a smile.

What was it like to work with director Richard Donnor( The Goonies, Superman, Lethal Weapon) and Jackie Gleason and Richard Pryor on The Toy? Did you learn a lot from that experience?

Too much to write really, it was an amazing experience. Richard Donner is like a osecnd dad to me, Gleason and Pryor were beyond nice and kind to me, shared endless hours of knowledge and guidance, words can’t describe all they have done for me over the past 30+ years, even being gone their words still guide me and the experience gave me untold amounts of abilities behind and in front of a camera.

You also had the chance to work with Liza Minnelli and Corey Haim was that an enjoyable experience? Do you ever miss Corey?

We shot A Time To Live back in ’86, Liza was for the most part a nice woman, playing her son didn’t hurt too much either. Corey from day one was like a little brother to me, of course I miss him. I miss his smile, his laugh, his voice. Corey and I had a special bond and in my heart his memory will always be cherished.

What are your personal feelings on death and such? Do you hope there is more to life than what we know while living? How do you hope to be remembered when your time is up?

I don’t look forward to getting old. Being in my mid 40’s I’ve had to deal with many friends passing away already and it is not pleasant. I deal with it as they are on location and I’m not sure when they’ll get back. If there is more to our existence than breathing and where I am not, I guess when I get here I’ll find out. So far no one’s gone there, come back and shared it so for now I’ll just enjoy the time here each and every day. I’d like to be remembered as someone who made people laugh, someone who cared and tried to help make this wacky world better. Can’t of course help everyone but for those whose lives I’ve touched, I hope they think of me and smile.

Do you have any moments from over the course of your career that stand out most in your mind?

There are many moments, meeting people who I liked, was a fan of mostly, but of course seeing myself on the big screen for the first time in The Toy , that moment definitely stands out.

Do you ever get tired of people mentioning your role in A Christmas Story? Why do you think that particular film has became such a Holiday classic?

There are thousands of films that have been made over the past 30 years, the fact that this “little movie” has captured people to raise it to “Americana” status is beyond belief. People sometimes can go overboard with how they approach me but for the most part it is just love and an appreciation for the work, people are people we are all a fan of someone. The movie is a cross-generational film, from 6-66 people just love the story and relationship between a child and his father, the rest of the film is just fun.. Leg lamp, Chinese restaurant, tongue stuck to pole, Red Ryder BB gun, it is all fun that no one has to hide from either their grandparents or kids.

You have said that being a child actor is truly a bad job can you elaborate on that? Would you advise children who wish to become actors to maybe wait until they are older? Do you think it places too much stress on a person too early on? Have you ever regretted starting your own career at such an early age?

I don’t think I’ve said being a “child actor’ is a bad job, I’ve said being an “actor” is a bad job. It doesn’t prepare you for things in life that are basic, long hours, constant rejection, endless search for a job to pay your bills. Being a child actor is easy, no bills, no rent/mortgage, no car payment, insurance etc.. parents take care of all that stuff. IF a child actor doesn’t learn anything but being “an actor” he/she is in trouble. Acting if you can get work is awesome, if not, you better learn how to do many other jobs to keep working to pay your bills, learn lighting, writing, directing, producing, everything you can OR if those producers don’t hire you it can and will be a most difficult life ahead. To me being a child actor wasn’t stressful, I always had a home to go to, food on the table, friends to see, I just learned my lines and the rest was easy. I don’t regret starting out when I was 8 years old. Why would I ? I’ve gotten to live the life of Riley basically, sure I missed out on school activities, sports I wanted to play etc but the exchange was a lifetime of experiences that money can’t buy.

Was it somewhat therapeutic to write your biography?

Enormously! When it’s done I want people to say “Wow”, not “oh that poor guy.” Lots of up’s and downs along the ride, it has truly been a rollercoaster. Thinking back, bring up good and bad memories are what life consists of but it’s how we deal with the good times and the bad times that bring us all to where we currently are mentally and how we deal with daily life.

Are there any little known things about you that your fans might be surprised to learn?

Sure, but that’s what the book is for. If I was to share one thing, I actually started “working” when I was about 3+ years old when my mom managed a 7-11 in Sommeville, NJ. Mom would put me on a box and I’ll press the cash register buttons for her, I’d get up with her at 5am and hang out all day with her, some days I’d go to babysitters but lots of days were spent with my mom and the customers.

How have you changed most as an individual since your early days?

I remember that kid, when he was 6-7-8 etc.. but I’m far from that guy. We all change over the years, we all mature, everyone finds what motivates them, mine is work mostly. I enjoy working, getting things done and helping people make a living. Being that I do book several celebrities for shows, autograph signings etc, it’s nice to call friends and tell them they will be going someplace, making a few bucks and being able to put food on the table. I just realized that being an intelligent person and being a “jack of all trades” really helps making life easier.

With Corey & Bernie Haim

What do you think is key to a life well lived?                                             

Remember how well you have it. What I mean by that is this, we can walk, talk, drive, earn a living, 10 fingers, 10 toes, the absolute basics But for some that isn’t so. Walk inside a pediatrics ward, see kids who have cancer, see people who can’t talk, have MS, ALS etc… I smile every day, sure we all have bad days, but know the sun will come out tomorrow, and tomorrow is another day. No one’s future is known, make it as well as you want to make it. Be happy, if I couldn’t be happy I’d buy a shovel and start digging. We are only here a short time (yes, 80 years is a short time compared to the history of the world), enjoy it all, love your parents, love animals, love all whom you want, to hate is a stupid emotion, unless that person has done you wrong but to hate to just hate is truly stupid.

Do you have a dream project you’d most like to bring into being?

That ship has already sailed, I wanted to do a sequel to The Toy and give a big portion of it to Richard Pryor for his dealing with MS but it wasn’t meant to be. Columbia pictures shot me down with nonsense and lies, I had huge mega stars attached, everyone was willing to do it for basically nothing to help Richard but like I said, it wasn’t meant to be. Now if someone gives me the opportunity to work as an actor, I’ll say Thank You and do the best job I can do for them.

Is there anything you’d like to say before you go?

Life is life, Love is love, if you have someone to love tell them how you feel once a day. Spend a moment each day reflecting on your life and try to learn from each and everything you do. I have learned along the journey of life that you can’t expand your horizons until you expand your mind. Sitting on FB for hours each day or living a life of drama is not what will lead anyone to a prosperous or enjoyable life and it certainly isn’t what others want. Love, live, enjoy, feel blessed for what you have, and never be jealous of what others have. Lastly, Smile, it costs nothing to smile but you smiling at someone may put a smile on someone’s face who isn’t as fortunate as you are or have what you have.

I  am sleeping in a bed made of magic, and I begin to dream. In the dream I am trying to put together a crew to rob a bank. I am looking for certain people, very special criminals, as I believe I can do this robbery without weapons or even the threat of violence. “I need people who can work with love,” I keep saying, “I need love criminals.” Then the dream changes, becoming dark and frightening, and I am unable to speak. I know a rather heavy secret that some people will need to know to stay alive. I want to write out this secret, but there is nothing to write with. Acting out the answer has failed, and now, one by one, these people are dying. In the end I am surrounded by piles of bodies, and I am weeping. Eventually I struggle to my feet and I start trying to find my way out. Night. The magic bed. Oh, how complex this thing called living is, even in sleep.

James Lee Jobe has been published in Manzanita, Tule Review, Pearl, and many other periodicals. His poems are also included in The Sacramento Anthology: One Hundred Poems, Jewel of the Valley: A California Anthology, and How to Be This Man: The Walter Pavlich Memorial Anthology. Jobe has authored four chapbooks, most recently What God Said When She Finally Answered Me, from Rattlesnake Press. He lives in Davis, California.