Become an O:JA&L Member through Patreon.
Featured Writer
Brian Clements
Life of the Hermit
The room where I sit does not matter and the chair does not matter and the air does not matter. The window does not matter nor the sky nor the people sitting in the sky on the way to Tahiti nor Tahiti nor all of Asia. The globe does not matter nor the planet nor the universe of ten thousand things. Kali does not matter and Gojira does not matter, nor do Lassie nor Tom Thumb nor Operation matter. The funny bone does not matter and the liver does not matter nor the brain nor the heart nor the kidneys. Reproduction does not matter and regrets do not matter and hope does not matter. I will not say that nothing matters because there are at least three things who matter and they are not things but people but not all people matter because rights do not matter and what is right does not matter and desire does not matter and the body does not matter when one comes face to face with death and so I will go out into the world yet live the life of the hermit, because everywhere I go you are not there
About the writer:
Brian Clements is an American poet who is the author or editor of fifteen collections of poetry, including the anthology An Introduction to the Prose Poem, volumes of poetry from Quale Press, Texas Review Press, and Meritage Press, and of some unique and compelling projects online.
Image: Manakin 1282.10 by Roger Camp (contemporary). Fine art photograph. No technical information specified. 2021. By permission. Roger Camp is the author of three photography books including the award-winning Butterflies in Flight, Thames & Hudson, 2002 and Heat, Charta, Milano, 2008. His documentary photography has been awarded the prestigious Leica Medal of Photography. His photographs are represented by the Robin Rice Gallery, NYC. His work has appeared in The New England Review, Southwest Review, Chicago Review and the New York Quarterly. More of his work may be seen at Luminous-Lint.com.
OJAL Art Incorporated, publishing since 2017 as OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters (O:JA&L) and its imprint Buttonhook Press, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation supporting writers and artists worldwide.
Become an O:JA&L Member through Patreon.
