It’s been a minute since I last contributed to Bindle zine. The new Autumn, 2026 issue features my poem “Medora, North Dakota, 1997” along with a link to hear a spoken word version in the electronica track Under The Stars by Fox Ferrari. This is a collaboration with my husband, Tobias Fox Ferrari, who also contributed artwork for the issue.
“Medora, North Dakota, 1997” is dedicated to Jennifer Kay, my dance partner for that summer in Medora. She passed away suddenly in June, 2026.
Medora, North Dakota, 1997
There was that moment of elation when we became stars under the stars
as the fireworks flew and 2000 sold out seats snapped closed like clams:
The audience leapt to their feet with cheers and applause
that washed over us like those warm summer winds.
Our smiles as wide and gen-u-ine as that North Dakota sky.
We recited our cornball jokes between the knife-thrower and the dog act.
Exit stage left for a quick switch to the clog shoes and back onstage again.
I landed that double pirouette every time and we did our lifts
and cartwheels and flips and nobody dropped a girl.
In our dressing rooms under the stage, the horses clattered overhead.
We kept our boots upright so no critters crawled in again.
Looking for a temporary home, just like us, like the show dogs and ponies.
We found our place there, if only for a time.
We sit in the audience now—watching disinterested boys
with halfhearted smiles lifting leaden buffalo gals.
We reluctantly stand in our snake-free shoes and join the customary ovation,
wishing we had just one more chance to give our 110%
and bask in that well-earned breeze.
You can get a real, paper copy of Bindle for free! Send your mailing address to subscribe@bindlezine.com, or fill out the form at bindlezine.com/subscribe. Thanks as always to Jonathan Russell for making Bindle happen.
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:
Bindle #1: Summer 2023
Bindle #2: Winter 2024
Circle In Monkeyshines
Pride Parade (2011)
The Tin Man & The Lion: Unanswered Prayers
The Lion In The Emerald City: Promise Of A New Day
Zombie Divas
We Got Hitched
Sunshine & Tinsel: A Canine Christmas Tail
Maybe.
