Back in January of 2022, I posted about “Circle,” a poem that I contributed to Jonathan Russell’s quarterly Monkeyshines zine. My partner Toby Hobbes was also a frequent contributor of mixed media to the publication. Since that time, Toby and I got hitched and he has officially changed his name to Tobias Fox Ferrari.
Meanwhile, Monkeyshines has also undergone a name change and is now Bindle Zine. Tobias and I are both happy to be included in the brand-spankin’-new Summer issue, which you can find here. Toby’s artwork “Holding My Tongue” is the centerfold, while my contribution is the essay “100 Centre Street, Part 79.”
100 Centre Street, Part 79
The industrial clock groans through the afternoon in its 46th year on the wall of Part 79.
The Judge plods through a mandatory speech entitled “Jury Selection As Public Service.” His arms make sparing gestures beneath billowing robes. The sound of his own voice still arouses him.
The microphone buzzes through each pregnant pause.
The court stenographer faces the gallery, swiveling slightly in her chair, crossed legs protruding from a skirt cut above the knee. Off to the side, her fingers type furiously as her expressionless gaze floats off high in the air.
Bailiff #1 casually checks his watch and shifts his weight on aching feet. A trickle of sweat snakes down the center of his back, beneath a damp bulletproof vest.
Bailiff #2 flexes a hand to examine chipped blue nail polish. The sleeve of her uniform creeps back to reveal a wrist tattooed with vines and flowers.
Fingers of dust wave frantically from the cooling vent behind the jury box.
Juror #1 stares at the judge with an expression of rapt attention as he contemplates evening plans with his girlfriend.
Juror #5 fights off sleep after a heavy lunch and two draughts. His belt pinches against his protruding flesh.
Juror #6 makes sideways glances at Juror #5, whose aroma she finds most offensive.
Juror #9 slowly, carefully slides his phone out of his pocket in an attempt to check his email.
Juror #11 is awaiting test results and trying not to think about it.
Their bags and briefcases are gathered around their feet, containing both crucial and inconsequential pieces of their real lives, all impatiently waiting to be addressed.
The prosecuting attorney sits in front of a stack of documents and folders, one of which contains graphic crime scene photos that will visibly upset Jurors #2, 6 & 11.
Ziplocked bags labeled “Forensic Evidence” wait inside a cardboard box marked “Case #26294.”
The defense attorney holds up a folder to obstruct the view as he leans in to quietly talk to his client.
The defendant rocks slowly in his chair, the angry voices now muddled by medication.
His brother sits behind him in the gallery. His jaw aches through clenched teeth.
A woman in the gallery clutches a wrinkled picture of her deceased daughter. There is a tissue balled up tightly in her fist. Her husband, in a freshly pressed suit, keeps his arm around her shoulder.
I wrote “100 Centre Street, Part 79” back in 2013 when I was just finishing up a class at The Writer’s Studio. I was summoned for jury duty and ultimately chosen to participate in a six week murder trial that ended in a hung jury. I hadn’t thought about this piece until this Spring, when I received another jury summons – let me tell ya, that 10 years went by fast. This time around I was dismissed on day one, which gave me conflicting feelings about not being picked and wondering why I wasn’t. Was I giving Liz Lemon vibes without even trying?
Congratulations to Jonathan Russell on the revamped zine. You can read it online or get a hard copy by emailing your mailing address to subscribe@bindlezine.com. It’s free!
bin•dle (noun): a bundle of clothes or bedding, stereotypically carried on a stick by runaway children and transients
“We all wander through our lives, and we collect memories, possessions, and relationships. Bundle them all together, and you have yourself a bindle. Our zine represents a collection of writing and art and photography – a bindle of creativity that we send across America, a tramp in search of a mailbox.”
See Also:
Circle In Monkeyshines: Winter 2022
The Tin Man & The Lion: Unanswered Prayers
The Lion In The Emerald City: Promise Of A New Day
1991: Homo Alone
We Got Hitched
You Picked The Wrong Fat Guy
My Mother, The Superhero
Sunshine & Tinsel: A Canine Christmas Tail
Brian Ferrari's Blog 
One thought on “Introducing Bindle #1! Summer 2023”