Synkroniciti is excited to welcome back poet, writer and photographer Jonathan Yungkans, based in the Los Angeles area. “We See Only Postures of the Dream,” an ekphrastic essay inspired by Frank Tenney Johnson’s 1936 painting The Cowboy, also known as Lengthening Shadows, and memories of his father. In Johnson’s quintessential American Western scene, a cowboy sits upon his horse in a canyon while the sun sets, staring out of the painting at us as if we are the ones who don’t belong.
“This is also the posture I’ve always sensed from Dad and it has taken me sixty-odd years to finally accept it. Until I did, I was simply afraid. Easy enough when I was a boy and didn’t know deep down why lightning strikes, thunder booms or a sudden gust rips past, causing trees to shudder. From then to now lies a truce I’ve had to make with myself, mostly in a wordlessness not far removed from the cowboy in the painting. It’s almost like Dad was not only born for the saddle but also with an innate sense of the West’s quiet wildness and an overriding urge to be left as undisturbed as possible.”
Jonathan delves deep into a sense of masculinity that is no longer common, a white-hat manhood that embraced John Wayne but not Marion Robert Morrison, a fierce brand that hid softness behind a capable and tough exterior. In this case, this persona is not phony, in fact it is honest about many things, particularly hard truths, but it is never open or vulnerable, preferring aloofness to sharing grief or pain. Jonathan’s portrayal is nuanced and respectful, acknowledging the paradox of his father’s tenacity and the way that particular strength made connection difficult.
His father passed while “Recovery” was in production, making the understanding and insight shared all the more poignant.
“A solitary state, always a part of Dad, has grown more so since Mom’s passing. It can be weeks or months before I hear from him. I’m usually the one who calls. I know he’s at home, endlessly puttering. But he could as well be riding herd, taking in the vistas and sky, the soft lowing of a cattle herd the closest he might come to hearing or wanting to speak. The same sort of quiet as when he’d ride out alone, sometimes for hours on end. Lately, he has not returned my calls. His voicemail is full. Much as I and some of my extended family might start to worry, I remind myself that he is on his version of a ride, minus the horse but fully in mind to be unbothered. I wait him out, assuring myself that he will get back to me when he is ready to come in.”
Read “We See Only Postures of the Dream” in Synkroniciti’s “Identity” issue, available here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/. Jonathan has been with us in every issue since he debuted in our second, “Water,” and has won contests in poetry (“Birds”), flash fiction (“Space”) and for the cover (“Hidden’). Great ekphrastic work makes a deep human connection, and he is a master.
Jonathan Yungkans sips iced pumpkin spice cold-brew coffee in hope that cooler thoughts might prevail in the last of the summer heat waves. Occasional helpings of Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Swiss Almond ice cream have also helped fuel his imagination in this regard. His work has appeared in Gleam, Gyroscope Review, MacQueen’s Quinterly, Panoply and other publications.
Our deepest condolences and gratitude, Jonathan. Thank you for sharing your work with us.