P M F Johnson Home Page
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I am a poet and fiction writer married to Sandra Rector. We love reading, finding new restaurants, and travel. We celebrate every victory, no matter how small, and never work on Saturdays.
PMF (pronounced Peter) and Bogart
Contact me at PMFJohnson@pmfjohnson.com
or read my poetry blog at PoetryCommentary.wordpress.com
I write on my own and in collaboration with my wife, Sandra Rector. Her web site is at SandraRector.com
Poetry
I have published in The Threepenny Review, Nimrod, The Evansville Review, The North American Review, Measure, The Atlanta Review, The New York Quarterly, Blue Unicorn, Blue Collar Review, Portland Review, and others. My poem "Lord of Dust" was semi-finalist in the Pablo Neruda Award Contest , while other poems have appeared in "Best Of..." anthologies.
My haiku appear in Modern Haiku; Mayfly; Frogpond; Acorn; The Heron's Nest, Wisteria; and others.
My speculative poetry may be found in Asimov's, Strange Horizons, Magazine of Speculative Poetry, The Leading Edge, Tales of the Unanticipated, and Arsenic Lobster.
Examples:
the war
on the tv
in the background
a fish in the tree in the floating leaf water
city of old stones --
men in the rain
roasting chestnuts
(all from Modern Haiku)
(from Threepenny Review)
The Kiss
Remember, that first twist in the stomach
like rubber bands scrunched between fists
when you're avoiding some duty
any normal person would dodge:
that might be God telling you,
"Me, I'd want to be a little nicer than that."
'Cause emotions are messages from God, right?
See, blowback goes on forever.
Take for instance the prickle
of disgust as Aunt Eustacia insists
on her smelly-old-people hello-kiss.
We're supposed to be nice to relatives
no matter how hairy,
but our rebellious children selves
want no part of considering the night
far in the future when we're alone,
two days after the dog has died,
Social Security has cramped us
into a Section Eight life
of compartment apartments
and waxy government cheese,
and we have only the rare release
of our niece retrieving us for the holiday,
presenting with embarrassment
her should-be-sweet children, each one
wriggling like hell to escape
the kiss.
(from Evansville Review)
Fiction:
In collaboration with Sandra Rector, I have published short stories in Amazing Magazine (our story, "A Dwelling In The Evening Air," received a nomination for a Sturgeon Award), Xanadu II (original hardcover anthology edited by Jane Yolen and published by Tor), Witch Fantastic and Whatdunits (both original anthologies edited by Mike Resnick and published by DAW), Copper Star (original anthology published for the World Fantasy Convention) and Tales of the Unanticipated.
On my own I have published short stories in the magazines Space & Time, Tales of the Unanticipated, and Pandora.
I am currently working on the second novel in a fantasy series; the first novel of this series, edited by World Fantasy Award winning editor Pat LoBrutto, is making the rounds.
The first novel concerns a cheery young human having a slight problem with stealing, who finds himself the Boundskeeper (a sort of sheriff) of a small orcen mountain town. He wants to do well, turn his life around, but then the murders start, and the magical attacks, and a war, and his girl isn't all that sure about him (see reference to thievery above) and it just keeps getting worse. Did I mention a magical artifact has come annoyingly alive and is trying to control him?
Other
I've also published articles in The New Mexican, Dragon Magazine and The Good Age, as well as book reviews for Grolier's Master Plots.
or read my poetry blog at PoetryCommentary.wordpress.com
I write on my own and in collaboration with my wife, Sandra Rector. Her web site is at SandraRector.com
Poetry
I have published in The Threepenny Review, Nimrod, The Evansville Review, The North American Review, Measure, The Atlanta Review, The New York Quarterly, Blue Unicorn, Blue Collar Review, Portland Review, and others. My poem "Lord of Dust" was semi-finalist in the Pablo Neruda Award Contest , while other poems have appeared in "Best Of..." anthologies.
My haiku appear in Modern Haiku; Mayfly; Frogpond; Acorn; The Heron's Nest, Wisteria; and others.
My speculative poetry may be found in Asimov's, Strange Horizons, Magazine of Speculative Poetry, The Leading Edge, Tales of the Unanticipated, and Arsenic Lobster.
Examples:
the war
on the tv
in the background
a fish in the tree in the floating leaf water
city of old stones --
men in the rain
roasting chestnuts
(all from Modern Haiku)
The Finch's Family Niche
The finch will start to build his wife a niche
Of twigs as winter's anguish fades. A splash
Of rain bestirs the lilies in the ditch.
Amid the slush, wise spring begins to stitch
Her dress, the lushest green in nature's stash.
The finch works hard to build his wife a niche.
The early hush yields to a rising pitch
Of whistles. Flushed out sparrows dash
Away past lilies spreading through the ditch
Where waters gush; embarrassed ears may twitch,
But cats don't blush. New grass conceals old trash.
The finch works hard to guard his family's niche.
The plushest daffodils bloom sideways, eldritch
Suns. The crush of irises seems rash.
The lilies flourish proudly in the ditch.
We all know moments so immensely rich
But satisfaction lasts for just a flash.
The tattered lilies droop along the ditch.
The finch has finished with his family's niche.
(from Threepenny Review)
The Kiss
Remember, that first twist in the stomach
like rubber bands scrunched between fists
when you're avoiding some duty
any normal person would dodge:
that might be God telling you,
"Me, I'd want to be a little nicer than that."
'Cause emotions are messages from God, right?
See, blowback goes on forever.
Take for instance the prickle
of disgust as Aunt Eustacia insists
on her smelly-old-people hello-kiss.
We're supposed to be nice to relatives
no matter how hairy,
but our rebellious children selves
want no part of considering the night
far in the future when we're alone,
two days after the dog has died,
Social Security has cramped us
into a Section Eight life
of compartment apartments
and waxy government cheese,
and we have only the rare release
of our niece retrieving us for the holiday,
presenting with embarrassment
her should-be-sweet children, each one
wriggling like hell to escape
the kiss.
(from Evansville Review)
Fiction:
In collaboration with Sandra Rector, I have published short stories in Amazing Magazine (our story, "A Dwelling In The Evening Air," received a nomination for a Sturgeon Award), Xanadu II (original hardcover anthology edited by Jane Yolen and published by Tor), Witch Fantastic and Whatdunits (both original anthologies edited by Mike Resnick and published by DAW), Copper Star (original anthology published for the World Fantasy Convention) and Tales of the Unanticipated.
On my own I have published short stories in the magazines Space & Time, Tales of the Unanticipated, and Pandora.
I am currently working on the second novel in a fantasy series; the first novel of this series, edited by World Fantasy Award winning editor Pat LoBrutto, is making the rounds.
The first novel concerns a cheery young human having a slight problem with stealing, who finds himself the Boundskeeper (a sort of sheriff) of a small orcen mountain town. He wants to do well, turn his life around, but then the murders start, and the magical attacks, and a war, and his girl isn't all that sure about him (see reference to thievery above) and it just keeps getting worse. Did I mention a magical artifact has come annoyingly alive and is trying to control him?
Other
I've also published articles in The New Mexican, Dragon Magazine and The Good Age, as well as book reviews for Grolier's Master Plots.
