Reflections: Life, the River, and Beyond
by Tarweed Poets, Jim Bumgarner, Lenora Good and Jim Thielman
83 poems ~ 121 pages
Price: $14.00
Publisher: Kindle Direct Publications
ISBN: 979-855-953-607-1
To Order: Amazon.com


ABOUT THE BOOK:


If you talk to a gardener about the difference between weeds and flowers, he will tell
you that a weed is any plant you “do not want” in your garden. Make no mistake about it,
the “Tarweed Poets” are not weeds; they never have been. Jim Bumgarner, Lenora Good
and Jim Thielman and their new collection Reflections: Life, the River, and Beyond, will
improve the poetic landscape on your bookshelf, whether in spring planting, summer
ripening, autumn harvest or laying the garden back for winter. Each poet brings unique
tools, perspectives, and skills to produce a truly memorable reading experience.


ADVANCE PRAISE:


“Wallace Stevens once wrote that Poetry is a response to the daily necessity of getting
the world right. I am not sure if Tarweed poets Jim Bumgarner, Lenora Rain-Lee Good
and Jim Thielman are aware of this little-known quote by Stevens or not. However,
judging from the practical down-to-earth treatment of life’s “ordinary” things, they
certainly understand it. Here is a sampling: ‘The gentle rain fell softly / that early
morning in the park. // Later, the sun emerged, / the air warm, / light sparkled through /
moistened leaves. // This refreshingly original collection is a work readers will return to
time and again to experience gentle rain softly falling.”
—Michael Escoubas, author of Steve Henderson in Poetry and Paint

It has been correctly observed that to be a poet is to feel “life” more deeply than most
people. This fellowship with life, which encompasses the ugly as well as the beautiful, is
a hallmark of the collaborative collection, Reflections: Life, the River and Beyond, by
Tarweed poets, Jim Bumgarner, Lenora Rain-Lee Good and Jim Thielman. The ripened
life-experiences contained in these poems became small pockets of solitude which
allowed me to gain a clearer perspective on my own “fellowship with life.”
—Sharmagne Leland-St. John, Editor-in-Chief of Quill and Parchment and author
of A Raga for George Harrison

Lenora Good, Jim Bumgarner and Jim Thielman give us a great bargain, three books in
one, Reflections: Life, the River and Beyond. All three Tarweed Poets demonstrate poise
and control of poetry’s tools, metaphor, imagery, rhythm and wordplay. What fascinated
me was the variety and sources of inspiration. Taking coffee with the guys, family history
and listening to other writers like Carver, Neruda, Harris, William Carlos Williams make
interesting reactions. I like sinking back into history of the Oregon Country, the
Tarweeds’ place on the Columbia River, and our unique place in the solar system. Who
doesn’t want to read about Grandma Grace?
—Jim Hanlon, author 17 Toutle River Haiku and Postcards from Jim, an exchange of
poems with Jim Thielman.


ABOUT THE AUTHORS:


Jim Bumgarner is a Tarweed Poet, and Urban Sketcher, a hot-rodder, organizer, blogger,
and biologist.

Lenora Rain-Lee Good lives on the Columbia River in Richland, WA and is a member
of the Tarweed Poets. Her poems have appeared in various venues including, Five
Willows Literary Review, Quill and Parchment, “WA129,” the poetry anthology selected
by Tod Marshall, Washington State Poet laureate 2016-2018, and Blood on the Ground:
Elegies for Waiilatpu,” her chapbook of poems abut the Whitman Mission published by
Redbat Books. Besides poetry, she writes novels, short stories, radio dramas, and
maintains a blog. She also quilts, photographs the birds on her river, and collects & tells
terrible shaggy dog stories.

Jim Thielman grew up in Spokane, Washington, attended Gonzaga University, and won
the Costello Poetry Prize in 1967. He attended the Iowa Writers Workshop at the
University of Iowa in Iowa City. Jim has worked as a high school English teacher and a
technical editor at the Hanford site. Jim has published two books of poetry, The Theory of
Wrong, Married Men Are Wrong and That’s OK and Postcards from Jim, a
correspondence of poems, written with fellow poet, Jim Hanlen. He has published in
Cirque, America, Quill and Parchment, and Yakima Coffeehouse poets.

Jim lives by the Columbia River in Richland, Washington with his wife Pat and are
grandparents to five delightful grandchildren.


FROM THE BOOK:


You Lie So Very Still in the Mornings
by Jim Bumgarner

Sometimes I have to look close
to see if you are still breathing.
Assured that you are,
I quietly crawl from the covers
and head downstairs.

The house is lonely while you sleep.
no radio, no television, no phone
sometimes all I can hear is my own breathing.

I brew the coffee,
read the news,
and wait for those precious moments
when you will join me.


Gray
by Lenora Rain-Lee Good

Gray sky, soft, cool, relentless rain.
River same shade of gray, empty
of boats and people and birds.
Today tumbleweeds own the water
A conga-line of swift-moving weeds
dances down the main channel
other tumbleweeds spectate in the
slower currents on either side,
learn steps to the dance
before joining the line to rush downriver,
drown, release their ghosts to the wind.


The Hunt
by Jim Thielman

Kaboom! A shot rings out.
I blink, crouch, and
check my startled gut,
hide behind two trees
and notice I’m alive
all in one tense split-second.

Ducks near me don’t move.
No reason. The loud bang
rode the wide river where
hunters aim and fire. Soon,
two ducks cross over, fleeing,
on the magic lift of wings.
 

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