Poetry by James Schwartz

(c) James Schwartz

Bio: James Schwartz is a poet, slam performer and author of various collections including "The Literary Party: Growing Up Gay & Amish in America" (available on Kindle 2011), PUnatic (Writing Knights Press, 2019) & Motor City Mix (Alien Buddha Press 2022). On twitter James can be found under @queeraspoetry for a follow.

Summer History

After much commotion 
My Amish mother,

Clad in a swim suit,
Maroon if I recall,

Cap-less, hair cascading down,
Is coaxed from the house,

To good-natured cat-calls,
& familial laughter,

With her ex-Amish sister, 
& sitting poolside,

While Dad grinned,
Mom blushed holding,

Her sister's hand,
Surrounded by,

A privacy fence,
Securing contents, 

Of a July scene in Indiana,
Forty summers ago or so,

In which,
I caroused with cousins,

& aunt's St. Bernard dogs,
Also Swiss,

& bobbed in the pool,
As our ancestors,

Once floated down,
The Aare River,

Before the Reformation,
Or after, perhaps. 





PLAYLIST Summer 2023 


1 https://youtu.be/xXRGrRnLpaE 

2 https://youtu.be/vI8cDhfSiNE

3 https://youtu.be/PY8OurLNtaA  

4 https://youtu.be/bAIDXo00wCE 

5 https://youtu.be/P2VaXOZdsTo

6 https://youtu.be/geFuxeHeZlk 

7 https://youtu.be/6QCXpHdW9ak 

8 https://youtu.be/H_1BDl88oxo 

9 https://youtu.be/7Urglie735Q 

10 https://youtu.be/HXOVJXXTOF8 

11 https://youtu.be/PMw0hZnPiec

12 https://youtu.be/62fs60IyJwM 

13 https://youtu.be/hqxbSggZ-vI 

14 https://youtu.be/4Fc67yQsPqQ 

15 https://youtu.be/4eOES6ErEkE