When I call to make a fuss everyone claims to be a manager. Writing for a living is as easy as throwing up in the toilet. Every morning I flip the lid and wait. I once wrote an essay that needed no revisions. The theme was, c’mon, this life? Look harder. Try harder. My skeleton was moved to tears. I imagine the brain is the softest tissue in the body, a step away from being soup. I ask a neurosurgeon friend and she says no, more like tofu. Before bed I brush my teeth and try to give up on empty longing. I vow to long with purpose and goals, then I spit. I win some and I lose some. Most things equal out. Eventually I’ll get everything I ever wanted except for money. The app that tracks it for me says when it comes to risk I’m a dud. Ring ring. Hello? Can’t talk now, my dog is doing one of his top-three cutest things. We should all spend more time gazing out the window—rain or shine, it really does something beautiful to your face.
Mini-interview with Jeffrey Hermann
HFR: Can you share a moment that has shaped you as a writer (or continues to)?
JH: That’s the hardest question to answer. There’s no single moment. I think I’ve always been taken with creativity—when someone makes something that didn’t exist before. A poem, a song, a novel, a movie, a joke. It’s always inspiring to see that happen, when the created thing reaches people and moves them in some way. To be part of that creative world is just fun.
HFR: What are you reading?
JH: A bunch of books: Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green, Sky Daddy by Kate Folk, and then a few poetry and micro collections are at my bedside—Amorak Huey, Zachary Shomburg, Charlies Simic, Mary Ruefle.
HFR: Can you tell us what prompted “Someone’s Making Money Off My Old Problems, Someone Else Is Charging Me for New Ones”?
JH: The title came first, which is often a good sign. It just popped into my head while I was paying bills. It sounded like a joke but also kind of true. Creatively, that idea just felt like it was inviting me in. From there the piece jumps around a lot. I enjoy writing that feel like it’s skimming along the top of a bigger idea, like a flat stone on a lake, and then at some point it dives down. That plunging just has to feel like it happens at the right moment. I hope this one works like that.
HFR: What’s next? What are you working on?
JH: My first book is due out in April 2026. So now I’m working on building another collection of micro pieces or prose poems, whatever these are. And I’m trying my hand at something longer, so we’ll see where that goes.
HFR: Take the floor. Be political. Be fanatical. Be anything. What do you want to share?
JH: Take care of each other out there.
Jeffrey Hermann’s work has appeared in Okay Donkey, Electric Lit, Wigleaf, Passages North, and other publications. His first full-length collection of prose poetry and flash fiction will be published by ELJ Editions in 2026. Though less publicized, he finds his work as a father and husband to be rewarding beyond measure.
Check out HFR’s book catalog, publicity list, submission manager, and buy merch from our Spring store. Follow us on Instagram and YouTube. Disclosure: HFR is an affiliate of Bookshop.org and we will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Sales from Bookshop.org help support independent bookstores and small presses.
Heavy Feather Review 