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.


September (from Count Seeds With Me)

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.

18 pages, Unknown Binding

First published April 15, 2022

About the author

James Croal Jackson (he/him/his) was born in Akron, Ohio. After graduating from Baldwin Wallace University with degrees in Film Studies and Creative Writing, he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked in the film and television industry. Living in his Ford Fiesta near the ocean, James rediscovered his love for poetry, and has since been published in hundreds of literary magazines including The Bitter Oleander, Rust+Moth, Columbia Journal, and FLAPPERHOUSE. He won the 2016 William Redding Memorial Poetry Prize, sponsored by The Poetry Forum (Columbus). His first book, The Frayed Edge of Memory, was published through Writing Knights Press. His second and third books are Our Past Leaves (Kelsay Books, 2021) and Count Seeds with Me (Ethel, 2022). He founded the journal The Mantle Poetry in 2017. He has returned to working in film production in Pittsburgh, PA. Find out more at his website.