How my mind functions on a given day dictates the way my poems are presented. Sometimes I’m scatterbrained and my poems are jarring. Other times, my brain seems to be running a thousand miles per minute and my fingers can’t keep up. Either way, I’m trying to reflect the chaos always in my field.
*
Six Miles In
the Reserve longer
to get lost in
steep trails will sleep well
balancing spaces
in extended
phone conversations
to cut yesterday
my bike
summer with roads how
long all
the distant presents
all precautions everywhere
of daily life for a long time
Sneeze
if you have something to say say it
thick-coated anticipation
you have a habit of staring into the nearest brightest light
horse galloping dirt fast toward you
your sadness unhidden momentous
hiding future illness in your blood
where we first kissed the claustrophobic purple room wipes her snot on my neck
another glass of water another benadryl hours pass the sun descends to sleep
blue handkerchief hangs at the side of the bed
you say this happens each first warmth of winter
but it happens every time birds wing from the distance
a swarm an inevitable oncoming pressure
everyone wants the glory everyone wants
to not wonder where their next meal
will come from– cupboards empty
one day, adorned in gold the next–
to be instantaneous in transformation–
Pisschrist into Christ, prayer into
hummingbirds singing softly on your shoulders
Hawaii
you tell me
while we
slice pita
under a
fluorescent
nook
at the restaurant
your childhood
in Hawaii
was vacation
after moving
to Akron
but the truth
is our ocean
is the same
just a tiny
bit further
Adjusting to a New City (Thank You for Your Calls)
you say go
to the lake I can’t
articulate
connection (the multitudes
slathered in fog lotion)
I have
believed in you
all our distant
foolishness outside this realm
of such irrelevant people
About the Author
James Croal Jackson is a Filipino-American poet. He has a chapbook, The Frayed Edge of Memory (Writing Knights Press, 2017), and recent poems in DASH, Sampsonia Way, and Jam & Sand. He edits The Mantle (themantlepoetry.com). Currently, he works in film production in Pittsburgh, PA. (jamescroaljackson.com)
