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NORTH CAROLINA L I T E R A R Y RE V I E W
2021 JAMES APPLEWHITE POETRY PRIZE FINALIST BY SANDRA DREIS
J.J. – 1985 He was a jar of honeybees you’d try to contain; but then, you felt guilty even with holes in the lid and you took off the cover. Let go. Bye-bye. Free as a bee. After the tour, we traveled to Vegas to our Producer’s new home. His wife cried at the sight of cacti on the lawn. Then she saw the white convertible, and Jerry. He was a flirt. A gorgeous dancer. Had a make-believe girlfriend in Chicago. I went along, pretended to believe. So we shined as friends. Perennial show-off, almost got us arrested at Niagara Falls, posing in arabesque for photos at customs; adored Maple Leaf flag. Security guards ordered him back to the van.
SANDRA DREIS, a member of Winston Salem Writers, has just completed her first poetry chapbook, entitled “Black Pearl Diary.” Her poetry appears in Flying South, Main Street Rag, Poetry in Plain Sight, Dark Moon Lilith and Snapdragon, among others. She is a retired Arts Connection Teacher for the Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools.
Winter 2022
