Synkroniciti is delighted to welcome back poet D.R. James of Michigan, winner of our “Ritual” issue poetry contest in 2022, with “All Her Jazz,” a touching and spunky tribute to his wife.
“My striking wife/ is the cat’s strut—// cello sass/ with a syncopated// escalator to/ move// these languid feet—”
The alliterative, rhythmic bounce of these short, economical couplets carries an impish sparkle, the kind of buoyant energy that lifts the corners of the mouth in the way a good beat coaxes toes into motion. True love is an audacious thing—recognizing, without hesitation or disguise, the singular spark of the beloved. D.R. doesn’t tuck that love away for himself; he lets it gleam openly, inviting us to witness the brilliance of her being. In celebrating her verve, her music, her unmistakable flame, he reminds us that devotion is not merely quiet admiration but a courageous act of seeing someone fully and sharing that radiance with the world.
D. R. James, retired from 40 years of teaching college writing, literature, and peace studies, lives with his psychotherapist wife in the woods near Saugatuck, Michigan. His latest of ten collections is Mobius Trip (Dos Madres Press).