Author Archives: James Just

About James Just

James Just was born in Sacramento, California in 1948. He attended university then, for lack of imagination, law school. He quickly realized life as a lawyer was not for him and dropped out, of school and of any career path. Two early marriages proved not propitious for the women involved, but did produce four beloved children. Over those years he worked at a variety of trades to make ends meet - projectionist, chef, restaurateur, bird bander. But his passion always was literature, in particular poetry. James was running a wine shop in Seattle when he met the love of his life, Irina, a German woman who had fled Germany at a young age for the wide-open spaces of the United States. They dropped everything and ran off to the South of France. There he picked up a few francs working as a stonemason in the small village of Salles d’Aude. For one glorious year they lived a simple and joyous life among the locals and amidst the vineyards. James and Irina returned to the U.S transformed by their experience of France, wanting to re-create the French way of life as best they could. They traded in Irina’s Seattle condo for a neglected 30-acre parcel in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and began to painstakingly transform the land into a homestead. They planted a vineyard and grew and made pinot noir, planted an apple orchard, restored wetlands, and reforested land unsuitable for pasture or crops. They grew organic produce, raised sheep and ducks, and shared a rich life with good friends. With the years they became increasingly concerned with environmental issues and involved with environmental organizations. They pleaded with local state governments to act to preserve native species and their habitats from the ravages of progress. James foresaw that human-induced climate change posed an existential threat to human civilization and to life on earth. But nobody kept listening. As the years passed working the farm was becoming too much for for their aging bodies and they saw that nothing was going to change in the United States. James and Irina sold the farm and sought sanctuary in Costa Rica. They found a home in the mountains ringing the Valle Central, on the slopes of Vulcán Poás, in the community of El Cajón. James has written poetry all his life. When he and Irina moved to Costa Rica he was blessed with the time and inspiration to pursue wholeheartedly the study and writing of poetry. Since living in Costa Rica he has written and published A Year of Days, Sketches of Poás, and Meanders. James worked with the Costa Rican poet Rosibel Morera to translate her book “Yo sólo sé decirme a los amantes” (“I Only Sing of Lovers”) into English. A dual-language edition of Morera’s book will be published by the Editorial Universidad Nacional in 2019. His fourth and latest book - The Book of Noah - has just been released. The Book of Noah is the culmination of years of engagement with literature and with the story of humans on planet Earth.

Diary: El Cajón de Grecia, March 19, 2024

1 Reply

I have a new poem ready to share. I seem to be working more and more slowly with the advance of years, it took me a couple of months to get this poem to a point where I’m happy with it.

I’m thinking this poem will be the concluding poem of the book I’m now preparing for publication, to be titled This Dewdrop World.

She

Viva shuns White Girl
appearing only at night
scratching at the glass door
asking in, to be fed

again, she wakes me
in my face, purring
nibbling my nose
licking my lips

insisting I follow her 
into the kitchen
top up her bowls
of kibble, of cream

or to the washroom
she waits at the basin
I crack the faucet
so she can sip

last, to the door 
ushered outside 
before the dawn light
before the white dog.

Such disturbance of sleep
one might think annoying
though I find these moments
present time to ponder

being aroused
deep in a dream land
fantastical, magical
characters, scenes 

drama of mind
dissolves as eyes open
to this world, incanted
purported awake

to this dream, my own
I remember beginning
She biting my lip bloody
leaving lasting impression.

And as always, here are a couple of flower photos.

Strelitzia, or Bird of Paradise, a rare double flower
Guaria Morada Orchid, the national flower of Costa Rica

Credits: Photos by Irina

Diary: El Cajón de Grecia, February 22, 2024

4 Replies

I have a new poem ready for debut.

Fantasia

Top of the driveway
property owned by a bank
paved access to ours
cuts through the land

a house slowly rotting there
a caretaker for years lived
keeping the place neat
and portion of easement

then the bank sold
real cheap, buyer told us
expecting to flip it
make a quick profit

stabs at renovation
not well conceived
each iteration 
not proving improvement 

the man hauled in junkers
to be fixed up, resold
or stripped for their parts
bodies left there to rust

he bought a white Husky
pure bred to impress girlfriend
who soon disappeared
the pup littered three mongrels

couple years, he skipped town
a neighbor lady now 
and then comes to tidy
daily to feed dogs

the drive, left unswept
of leaves shed from trees
needles of pines
debrish falling to my hands

orange plastic fingers 
worn down to nubs
buy a new rake intending
to salvage the old handle

rather carry the stub rake
up the drive, leave it
at the gate to the yard
of dwelling forsaken

time passes, the drive
seems to keep itself clean 
of leaves, needles
other such detritus.

I’ve been working on getting a new book ready for publication – reviewing, revising, and finishing up a few final poems. The title is This Dewdrop World. I think the book contains some of my best work, certainly my most mature. I hope you’ll like it.

The rainy season, now only five or six weeks away. We love our change of seasons, so different from up north.

As always, some photos of flowers to share, orchids.

In a tree, our yard
Hanging under a staircase

Credits: Photos by Irina