Count Seeds With Me
by
James Croal Jackson
James Croal Jackson (he/him/his) is a Filipino-American poet. He has two chapbooks (Our Past Leaves, Kelsay Books, 2021 and The Frayed Edge of Memory, Writing Knights, 2017). His poems have been published in Hobart, One, Jersey Devil Press, and many more. He works in film production and edits The Mantle Poetry from Pittsburgh, PA. (jamescroaljackson.com)
from Count Seeds With Me
September
Today I am a dangling thread in the unnecessary count
of all Allegheny’s clothes. Snug fit in a snake’s mouth,
today of all days I choose to live obliquely, first day
of fall, et cetera. My brain’s all leaves, caves all ears,
moths seeking better light I have not provided. You
ask how my day is going and I get defensive. Never
wielded boxing gloves. Never a ring. I am surviving,
I say, the minimum. My form conjures shadows.
Drop me a rope. I must climb out from this well.
