The Truants, by Eastman Johnson

Blank Verse and Epistolary

August 8, 2024

[fiction]

Dear Sir: As requested, I shall begin by providing background information about myself. My name is Vernon Lantry. I am fifty-one years of age.

[poetry]

Before we knew, we heard— // the horses shot in the pasture, // clamor receding along the fence line like snow.

[fiction]

I took the truck down the rough, narrow trail, rounding the final rutted bend out of the woods and onto the rocky beach surrounding the lake.

[poetry]

Ain’t that done yet? Ain’t that done? Three words which, // if spoken too soon, sears itself upon // my balloon.

The Rumen