Prose Discourse: Fiction
Experimental Fiction (XP)
Short Story
Jim Meirose
TWILIGHT NIGHT
Twilight. Casting with your thumb pressed on the button on the reel into the lily pads in the shade made the line go whizz. The relatives of the night crawlers whose slimy sex was interrupted by George and Jim are for sale in the cellar of that other George’s sporting goods store and end up cast as bait into the still place in the shade. Scaling in the moonlight with a sharp knife on a piece of plywood up on sawhorses exposes the pink shiny fishflesh. Hooking Bait in the eye makes it writhe and is cruel imagine your fingers so lacerated hanging pale and bloodless. Killies swimming in clear water in the pail have come from the net that swept through their school, which they swim in as do minnows. Chum wrapped in newspaper chopped with a cleaver kept in a cooler to sell by the bay is bloody. Rowboat’s rotten bottom sags, the oars are rotten and the seats are soft the gunwales are loose it’d be pointless to use a lock&chain to attach it to the dock it’d just tear loose from the spongy rotten wood. Dusk is colorless cool and hazy swarming with mosquitos and ticks, and if there are snakes they will strike. Dawn is full of sun and fresh air, the sleepy people lie in the shadows of their bedrooms wishing for the stars to continue to shine, the morning slimes over them like thick sticky mud. Hip boots worn by Father fill with water because they’re leaky, they get heavy and the rubber strains at the straps. Turtles sun themselves on hot dry logs and grip the wood with tiny claws, also their chidren are there sunning themselves; the parents are beautifully striped like the babies. Eels eat paper they are thick and squirm, one was caught from atop a trestle once, they climb out of the tin can yet they are slick. Rotten wood isn’t good to step on, it will crumble from its years in the rain, the shed bottom is rotting as bad as sin. Dry as bone, the wood shows the wet footprints, the wood is hot from baking in the sun and over the years has become unpainted. The reel ticking as it turns, open faced, its spool spinning its clamps holding it to the rod, it runs so smooth it seems it will never tangle. Hooks are always Eagle Claw they are sharp and barbed, they cause pain, you crush the split shot onto the leader with your teeth. The Jitterbug lure makes noise is red & white and large and they all yell at you when you use it but its the best lure much better than the fake worm. Blood spreads from the prick on your finger clouding over the surrounding skin, you can suck at the wound to ease the pain, it could have been worse you could chop your hand with a knife and droplets of blood could be spraying all around. The galvanized pail is full of eels, the gutted fish lie by the porch steps in a dented can. Fishing Line is clear by design, it can also be used to fly a kite, the spool is plastic and you tie a knot to the leader. Monofilament is thin but strong, long as the railroad rail, on the trap rock, on the railroad tie. The bass is a largemouth, thick and stubby, flopping and fighting after it hit the lure, the fish is heavy. Trout are speckled the rainbow is beautiful the brown is a figghter they have a tough jaw in which to set the hook and some people catch them with flies. Pickerel have a snout and tiny teeth, pointed and rough, they are hooked and are small out of the darkening water. Night.
About the writer:
Jim Meirose‘s short fiction has appeared in leading journals, and his novels include Sunday Dinner with Father Dwyer (Optional Books), Understanding Franklin Thompson (JEF), Le Overgivers au Club de la Résurrection (Mannequin Haus), and No and Maybe – Maybe and No (Pski’s Porch). In the sphere of Experimental Discourse (XP) at OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters (O:JA&L), Jim Meirose emerges as a distinctive figure whose work systematically rejects conventional narrative tools in favor of what he terms “complementary realities.” His portfolio and featured chapbook at O:JA&L serve as both a critique of mainstream fiction and a challenge to contemporary experimental trends that rely on wordplay or overt authorial editorializing.
Image: Outdoor Life: The Angler (AI-assisted digital image) by O:JA&L staff creative. 2026. Public domain via Midjourney AI.
OJAL Art Incorporated, publishing since 2017 as OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters (O:JA&L) and its imprints Buttonhook Press, HOT BUTTON PRESS Contemporary Issues, and HIGH BUTTON PRESS Contemporary Art, supports writers and artists worldwide.
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series (from OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters and its Buttonhook Press imprint) gathers acclaimed writers for concise, downloadable chapbooks that pair fresh work with candid reflections on craft. Each installment—often framed by an interview with an associate editor—opens a window onto how masters of prose poetry, flash fiction, and related hybrid forms build voice, compression, and surprise. Designed as a reader’s invitation and a writer’s toolbox, the series celebrates literary art that moves fast, cuts deep, and lingers long after the last line.
Click on the titles below to explore or download the free PDF chapbooks.
Prose Poetry and Flash Discourse
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Brian Clements on Prose Poetry
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Mark Budman on Flash Discourse
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Ray Gonzalez on Prose Poetry
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Master Series: Michael Martone on Flash Fiction
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Master Series: Roberta Allen on Flash Fiction
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Master Series: Peter Conners on Flash Fiction
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Maxine Chernoff on Prose Poetry
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Pedro Ponce on Flash Fiction
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Kent Dixon on Flash Fiction & Nonfiction
With an interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
Poetry
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Poetry from Bruce McRae
With an Interview by Associate Editor Jeff Streeby
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Poetry from Richard Widerkehr
With an Interview by Associate Editor Jeff Streeby
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