Bethany Jarmul

Someone Lost, Lost Someone  

Darkness yells across 
the hilly horizon. Absence 

is a single star 
on a moonless night. 

Tonight is purple, deep 
enough to fall into headfirst— 

headlights hit 
a deer with wet eyes.

Bethany Jarmul is an Appalachian writer and poet. She’s the author of two chapbooks, including a mini-memoir Take Me Home now available from Belle Point Press. Her debut poetry collection Lightning Is a Mother is forthcoming with ELJ Editions in 2025. Her work has been published in many magazines including Rattle, Brevity, Salamander, and South Florida Poetry Journal. Her writing was selected for Best Spiritual Literature 2023 and Best Small Fictions 2024, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, The Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and Wigleaf Top 50. Connect with her at bethanyjarmul.com or on social media: @BethanyJarmul.