Synkroniciti is thrilled to welcome back poet and writer James A. Foster, who debuted with us in Identity with the short story “Now You See Me,” nominated for a Pushcart. In Dignity, he presents a colorful poem that was one of our poetry contest finalists, “Trailer Trash,” about growing up in a mobile home in the plains region of the US often called “Tornado Alley.”
“I grew up in a rusty 8×30/ mobile home tossed into Tornado/ Alley like an empty, dented beer can.// When the storms arrived, jade green mountains,/ anvils huge enough for God’s hammer,/ we climbed onto the roof, me and my sister,/ to watch the clouds, like giant beaters, spinning.”
James’ imagery is so apt, containing a mixture of wonder and rawness, that we feel ourselves transported into the storm like children who have no concept of the danger it manifests. Life is like this. It passes over us before we understand what it is. His narrative, simple and elegant, ends not in mayhem or destruction, but in transcendence.
Read “Trailer Trash” in Synkroniciti’s Dignity, Vol. 8, No. 3, available for $7 here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
James A. Foster is a retired Distinguished Professor of Biology, Philosophy, and Computer Science, with an extensive academic publication and editorial record. He holds an A.B. in Classical Philosophy and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science. Many years ago, he moved from Chicago to a former logging town in Northern Idaho, where he lives with his wife, sons, and a calico kitten named Skitterbutt.
These days, James writes novels, poems, and short stories. When he’s not making stuff up, he reads ancient Greek literature, plays Blues, chases wild fish in remote places, and drinks excellent whisky. James swam before he walked and still prefers water to land.