Jack B. Bedell
Horsemen
—after Debbie Fleming Caffery's photograph
"Mamou, Louisiana, 1997"
Difficult not to sense apocalypse
when there's a horse and rider
sprinting like this under ominous,
skies. No matter how calm the water
in the rice fields, or empty of blue
the horizon, you just have to ride
toward whatever light there is before
darkness makes its way to ground.
Jack B. Bedell is Professor of English and Coordinator of Creative Writing at Southeastern Louisiana University where he also edits Louisiana Literature and directs the Louisiana Literature Press. Jack’s work has appeared in HAD, Heavy Feather, Identity Theory, The Shore, No Contact, Autofocus, WAS, and other journals. He’s also had pieces included in Best Microfiction and Best Spiritual Literature. His latest collection is Ghost Forest (Mercer University Press, 2024). He served as Louisiana Poet Laureate 2017-2019.