97 Degrees, Old Mesilla, NM
by Jari Thymian
[Click on triptych to full it full-size.]
Jari Thymian’s poetry has appeared in various publications including tinywords, A Hundred Gourds, The Pedestal, Prune Juice, Ekphrasis, FRiGG and American Tanka. She and her husband lead a very simplified lifestyle in a 32-foot RV and volunteer year-round in state and national parks across the US.
What surprising, fascinating stuff can you tell us about the origin, drafting, and/or final version of “97 Degrees, Old Mesilla, NM”? For years, I carried a childhood misconception that beethoven meant beet garden. When I discovered the Armenian meaning of hoven, I felt like the piece was complete. Writing this triptych felt like juggling information from many directions: my piano lessons, my love of North American deserts, history, myth, science, Beethoven sonatas in my fingers, visiting Beethoven’s houses in Vienna, my childhood deafness in my left ear, etc. To follow my curiosity and memories in wild patterns felt like an adrenaline rush.
Check out the write-up of the journal in The Writer.
Matter Press recently released titles from Meg Boscov, Abby Frucht, Robert McBrearty, Tori Bond, Kathy Fish, and Christopher Allen. Click here.
Matter Press is now offering private flash fiction workshops and critiques of flash fiction collections here.
Submissions
Poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction/prose poetry submissions are now closed. The reading period for standard submissions opens again September 15, 2025. Submit here.
Upcoming
03/23 • Kenneth Pobo
03/30 • Roberta Allen
04/06 • Avril Shakira Villar
04/13 • TBD
04/20 • TBD
04/27 • TBD
05/04 • TBD
05/11 • TBD
05/18 • TBD
05/25 • TBD
06/01 • TBD
06/08 • TBD
06/15 • TBD
06/22 • TBD
06/29 • TBD
07/06 • TBD
07/13 • TBD
07/20 • TBD
07/27 • TBD
08/03 • TBD
08/10 • TBD
08/17 • TBD
08/24 • TBD
08/31 • TBD
09/07 • TBD
09/14 • TBD
09/21 • TBD