I dig my heel into ground. and water fills the dent I make as soon as I pull my foot away.

As a child I’d stand for days at water’s edge casting and reeling. All that ground’s gone now, loosed by storms and salt water, just a ghost, a dent.

Jack B. Bedell is Professor of English at Southeastern Louisiana University where he also edits Louisiana Literature and directs the Louisiana Literature Press. Jack’s work has appeared in HAD, Heavy Feather, Brawl Lit, Moist, Okay Donkey, and other journals. He’s also had pieces included in Best Microfiction and Best Spiritual Literature. His latest collection is Fight Nights (Blue Horsey Press, 2025). He served as Louisiana Poet Laureate 2017-2019.