Don’t Die

refractions on a shadow still the boom
mic lingers overhead / birthday candle
lit in the dough of Hofbrauhaus pretzel
white / purse of gold in a Fogo de Chau
group / illusions you with wealth / blue
yellow balloons framing the window at
Pitt dandelions beneath the barbed wire
public / I’ll be in Charleston alone / on
Thursday away from public / stairs tick
infestations / lift your pitcher-hands in
victory when faced with fall’s expanse


Bio: James Croal Jackson (he/him/his) is a Filipino-American poet. He has a chapbook, The Frayed Edge of Memory (Writing Knights Press, 2017), and poems published in Perhappened, The Subnivean, and Capsule Stories, among others. He edits The Mantle Poetry (themantlepoetry.com) and works in film production in Pittsburgh, PA. (jamescroaljackson.com)

Twitter/Instagram: @jimjakk