s w i f t s  &  s l o w s: a quarterly of crisscrossings

Friday the 13th, Part 5
Jonathan Minton, Sam Edsall & Melissa Gish

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Gone, I say, and walk from the dark.
But Jason can’t die because we invented him.
We drag him like a broken wheel across
every screen. We can ignore our graves,
but the dead hang around us, like the scent
of rotted fruit. Their persistence is their message.
It wouldn’t matter if this were the last film.
In every country, people die, but no one
is ever alone. We gather together, silent as stones,
as the air unsettles around us, and a new villain
enters the scene. Even if an imposter, we follow, looking
over our shoulder towards those brisket-hacking,
melon-splitting sound effects. The teenagers collide
to bruise or bless whatever is left as the light
retreats to a singular focus. No one can live
under such threat. But this is 1985,
and we were freaking out over Russia and AIDS.
The way Rambo says “1985” to that lonely POW
is the stuff of film legend. We were listening
to Talking Heads, Tears for Fears, and Slayer’s
“Hell Awaits.” Then Rocky kicked Drago’s ass.
Sometimes we have to disappear for a little while.
Corey Feldman isn’t here because he’s in The Goonies,
but Tommy survives because we need his machete.
Pam is not afraid to use a chainsaw,
but she bears the name of Jason’s mother,
like a scar, or birthright. There are no miracles.
These are the things we have never buried.

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Jonathan Minton lives in central West Virginia, where he is a Professor of English at Glenville State College. He is the author of the book Technical Notes for Bird Government (Telemetry Press, 2018), and the chapbooks In Gesture (Dyad Press, 2009) and Lost Languages (Long Leaf Press, 1999). His poetry has appeared in the journals Indefinite Space, Otoliths, BlazeVOX, Connotation Press, Asheville Poetry Review, Poetry Pacific, Eratio, Columbia Poetry Review, Reconfigurations, Free Verse, and elsewhere. His poetry has also been included in the anthologies Poems for Peace (Dyad Press, 2006), Oh One Arrow (Flim Forum Press, 2007), and Crazed by the Sun (Cyberwit Press, 2008). He edits the journal Word For/Word and co-curates the Little Kanawha Reading Series.
Word For/Word→

Note from Jonathan Minton: Some of the phrasing is from Anne Sexton’s “The Truth the Dead Know” plus from questions & comments, revised & tweaked from Melissa Gish and  Sam Edsall.

Melissa Gish is a writer and editor for Aji Magazine  and the author of more than 100 juvenile nonfiction books. A native  Minnesotan, she currently lives in West Virginia.
Aji Magazine→

Sam Edsall is a former member of the WV-based horror-punk band The Jasons. Singles from his current band, The Noir Troubador
on Bandcamp→