Jack B Bedell

Summer Fragment, 2

Bubbles moving along the bank, always
slower than they should be, doubling back 

enough times to tilt your mind away
from simple gas, toward the hungry impatience 

of snapping turtles or gar fish waiting
for the ball you’re spinning on your palm 

to slip away and roll close to the water,
for you to reach your hand out toward 

them floating just under the surface,
your fingers curled like fresh shrimp, 

the only salvation your mother’s voice
yelling supper from the dry porch.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Jack B. Bedell is Professor of English and Coordinator of Creative Writing at Southeastern Louisiana University where he also edits Louisiana Literature and directs the Louisiana Literature Press. Jack’s work has appeared in HAD, Pidgeonholes, The Shore, Okay Donkey, EcoTheo, The Hopper, Terrain and other journals. His latest collection is Color All Maps New (Mercer University Press, 2021). He served as Louisiana Poet Laureate 2017-2019.