James Redfern was born and raised in Long Beach, California. Redfern is a graduate of Grinnell College. His poetry has appeared in High Shelf, Beatific Magazine, The Raw Art Review, Transcend, We Are Antifa (anthology, Into the Void), 2020: Good Writing from a Bad Year (anthology, Dutch Kills Press), Verity La: The Clozapine Clinic, Dime Show Review, Swimming with Elephants, Montana Mouthful, Anti-Heroin Chic, Great Lakes Poetry Press, Fear and Loathing in Long Beach, The American Journal of Poetry, Passengers Journal, DoveTales, Genre: Urban Arts (forthcoming), and elsewhere.
Artwork by Jennifer Frederick “Frog in Orange” as featured in In Parentheses (Volume 7, Issue 1)
These poems are all forthcoming from the collection ETERNITY KEYHOLE POEMS by James Redfern.
Concrete Pillar
MORAL PILLAR
moral pillar
we are I
I am we
we are I
I am we
we are I
I am we
we are I
I am we
we are I
I am we
we are I
I am we
we are I
I am we
we are I
I am we
we are I
I am we
moral pillar
MORAL PILLAR
world peace
breathing straight-spined slowly
deliberately, deeply,
recognizing consciousness in the noösphere
breathing straight-spined slowly
deliberately, deeply,
recognizing consciousness in the noösphere
connecting to awareness outside the body
breathing, tapping into the world soul mind
resonating compassionate energy outward
resonating compassionate energy inward
resonating universal awareness
resonating calm love
resonating calm love,
breathing deeply slowly resonating
unconditional love
unmitigated love
breathing straight-spined slowly
deliberately, deeply,
recognizing consciousness in the noösphere
love doth not handle have
love only comes into existence
when it is given away.
love is as the rays of the sun:
it shines forth and brings life.
love held on to
is love soon smothered,
suffocated.
love suffocated is the product of fear.
fear not. give away love.
give love away and feel it grow.
love doth not handle have;
love has instead a faucet.
a reader’s temporary poet
my muse is a verse-tease.
my name is Jim. I’m a poet.
you, I assume, are the reader.
thank you for stopping by.
I’m pleased to meet you,
or perhaps,
I’m happy to see you again.
in either case, welcome.
welcome to my sparse and humble abode.
please excuse the clutter,
but I’ve been madly preparing for your visit
for the past almost thirty years
and the notes and drafts have piled up.
I sincerely hope it’s been worth the wait,
and worth the work.
so, without further delay or ramble,
this is what I wanted to tell you:
life is short.
fall in love with yourself.
love those in your life.
love life.
love is not the only answer,
but it is always the best answer.
thanks again, dear reader,
for stopping in for a visit.
your temporary poet,
Jim
humble advice
humble advice for my kids, and their friends,
and for anyone really, even for myself:
don’t be mean.
treat anger and hatred like addictions,
dangerous and costly addictions.
spend some time everyday
focused only on your breathing.
appreciation of life brings joy;
expectations from life bring suffering.
eat a lot of raw fruits and vegetables
eat a lot of cooked fruits and vegetables
drink plenty of water.
find virtue in making art every day.
cook for yourself and your loved ones
every day you can.
remember that you learn
from everyone you are around,
so, keep company with those
who make buoyant your heart with love.
when you are depressed or troubled
try to do something nice for another.
if you bring a guest into your home,
give them the best of everything.
take every opportunity in life to give of yourself to others,
but don’t be a doormat and always know it’s okay
to tell someone to fuck off if you need to.
question everything—even these suggestions.
remember too: everything is holy.
From the Editor:
We hope that readers receive In Parentheses as a medium through which the evolution of human thought can be appreciated, nurtured and precipitated. It will present a dynamo of artistic expression, journalism, informal analysis of our daily world, entertainment of ideas considered lofty and criticism of today’s popular culture. The featured content does not follow any specific ideology except for that of intellectual expansion of the masses.
Founded in late 2011, In Parentheses prides itself upon analysis of the current condition of intelligence in the minds of these young people, and building a hypothesis for one looming question: what comes after Post-Modernism?
The idea for this magazine stems from a simple conversation regarding the aforementioned question, which drew out the need to identify our generation’s place in literary history.
To view the types of work we typically publish, preview or purchase our past issues.
Please join our community on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at @inparenth.
By In Parentheses in IP Volume 7
32 pages, published 1/15/2022
in parentheses 