CBUS=>PIT
Used
to be you’d be the one
I’d
tell balloons to– the moon
changed
positions in the sky,
obscuring
Orion. I’d wake
and
brew you coffee dark
as
peering down a well,
then
drop into your cosmos,
dreams
you just survived
in
the night. This left me
an
azure hue to proceed
through
the day, delivering
good
news of bread and butter
to
those who were hungry
in
my chosen city’s streets
of
lead. I’d hold gold. Now
I am
present in the intersection
of
three rivers, a bridge
standing
on steel Xs on
a
stack. I want to be a pillar
for
all who drive me home.
James Croal Jackson
James Croal Jackson is a Filipino-American poet who works in film production. His latest chapbooks are A God You Believed In (Pinhole Poetry, 2023) and Count Seeds With Me (Ethel Zine & Micro-Press, 2022). Recent poems are in Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Little Patuxent Review, and The Round. He edits The Mantle Poetry from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (jamescroaljackson.com)