The Night Window

In 2016, I set off on a reading tour with my buddy, and fellow poet Scott Silsbe. We did a few bad shows and got a set of even better stories out of the first few dates. We had to make one of those deadly all-day drives from Chicago to Kansas City before then heading to Lawrence, Kansas for a reading at The Raven. I was so bloody tired that all I have are snippets, still frame photographs of that night. The next night we would read in Blue Springs, MO and I would meet another flock of wayward poets who would become friends, drinking buddies, agitators, and collaborators. It seems strange looking back almost ten years, how much magic would derive from a few brief encounters half a country away. Bob got in touch fall of 2022, when we were all a little windblown and he requested I send over photos he'd seen on facebook. After the first few poems out rapport grew, so when I was out shooting, and a shot would spark Bob's poems, I'd reach out to him. A couple years have passed and we arrive at The Night Window. In rereading this book again, I'm in awe of the of the depth these words add to the images I've collected. These moments of American Loneliness and American Mortality and whatever else can be said of Americana become at once, even larger with the addition of these poems. Bob found the voice is those shots, in those reflections, across those lonely streets and in the eye of every mannequin. His voice amplifies what he's seeing and a fusion, a simple grace is achieved there. That moment where two artforms at their best meet, that is true collaboration. Thanks Bob. -Jason Baldinger To the best of my recollection, I first met Jason Baldinger at The Raven Bookstore in Lawrence, Kansas, in 2016, at which Jason was a feature reader, as was my friend Roy Beckemeyer, with whom I tagged along. Somewhere along the line, I discovered Jason's photographs on Jason's Face Book page and bugged Jason to let me write to some. Jason capitulated. The first of the collaborations was "Heaven From Here" in November of 2022, followed immediately by "The Hangup," both of which appeared in The Ekphrastic Review on December 3, 2022. A total of 26 works, consisting of poems, flash fictions, and hybrids, appeared over the next two years, all of which were fortunate enough to receive publication in various ekphrastic journals. For me, it has been a joy to write to Jason's wonderful, often quirky, photographs. I should make it clear that all of Jason's photographs existed in their own right before I wrote to them. We have been fortunate to have terrific publishers in Lorette C. Luzajic at The Ekphrastic Review, Clare MaQueen at MacQueen's Quinterly, and Katharine Grace McDaniel at Synkroniciti. We hope you find something that moves you in this collection of words and images. Robert L. Dean, Jr.