Jesse James in Hell, an original mock-heroic epic in the voice of the infamous outlaw, begins in Nevada after the Civil War, but soon rolls forward without the constraint of specific time and place.
“Direct account of past events
takes no time with flattered facts— some has got the duty
keep track whats took place, uninformed of the relative size
or value of the vignettes— aint like buying Cucumber bushes—
them whatre prone by fear or training
take the past with a grain of salt
are damned turn into a Pillar of it."
Paul J. Lyon, a poet since age 17, was raised in Southern California, and thereafter lived throughout the West, variously occupied until becoming a criminal defense lawyer in the states of Washington and California. He and his wife, Robirda, also an attorney, met in high school and later raised five daughters in an old house in the San Joaquin Valley. They spend part of the year at their other residence in Puget Sound.