Explore O:JA&L’s Buttonhook Press offerings on Amazon.

Subscribe to the O:JA&L YouTube channel.

Become an O:JA&L Member through Patreon.

Follow O:JA&L on Facebook.

Jason Dean Arnold

Inventory

Every electrical device in our home needs to be checked

Again                                                               checked
Again                                                               checked
Again                                                               checked
Again.

The light switch doesn’t know that it can’t be controlled
With my mind; I stare at it, examine
.                                                    Its resting position.

When I was a child, I would close my eyes to hold the image
As a temporary imprint on the insides of my eyelids.

It would quickly devolve into pentimento, trace, fleshy abstract,
Erasure.

The beauty is in the longing, the lost.
I am losing everything every day, in small moments, repeated

Again.

Again.

I only trust the failure of my memory.

 

About the writer:
Jason Dean Arnold’s entire career has been devoted to the importance of education, from teaching in the K-12 setting to designing and teaching online courses for post-secondary. He currently serves as the director for E-Learning, Technology, and Communications at the University of Florida’s College of Education. Jason has no ability to compartmentalize. As a result, his writing, visual artwork, and music (and other creative output) are all extensions of his love for learning.

Image: Still Life with a Lamp by Bohumil Kubišta (1884-1918). Oil on canvas. 98 x 74 cm. 1909-1910. Public domain.

OJAL Art Incorporated, publishing since 2017 as OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters (O:JA&L) and its imprint Buttonhook Press, supports writers and artists worldwide.

Become an O:JA&L Member through Patreon.