First published in Cascade #2 in May of 2011, published by the Washington Poets Association (available on Amazon). I served as editor for this journal. The poems, however, were selected by a jury.

 

The jar of jelly is Jim’s gift to me,

unexpected after he reads his poems, tells a few stories—

a gift like a wren that flits from musky rafters

to rest on my outstretched finger.

It’s a gift like this afternoon when my son said,

when he’s older, he’ll be able to reach the moon.

 

[for Jim Bodeen]