Graham Jackson

Inhale—
my feet pound
upon the earth
I once thought
could support me.
But it’s not enough.
 
Exhale—
I reach down, deep
into my burning self,
for fiery gulps of air
seething up from dark
strong places […]

I feel the silent march of time
Like a glacier crawling, haltingly,
Toward an open and unknown sea,
The gulls’ joyful weeping haunting me
Under the wintry brilliance of sun
And the piercing sky. It calves, w […]

While I’m waiting, I am
Distilling neon signs in a drop
Of rain, nearby the rushing
Of the world’s many neurons,
Held by the weight of stillness:
The back and forth and back of
This daily game of hid […]

Each bee that’s crystalline  
with spring’s golden frost
(each filament gleaming
with the idea of flowers)
 
carries with it the possibility of true
abundance—the hope of things not yet
seen by the manifol […]

I am fearfully made
In this garden of wonders
Where sun dapples down
Upon bench and bed,
Upon creeper and crocus,
With shoots lancing quickly up,
Defiant through dampened earth.
 
I am wonderfully […]

That sunny day I stepped upon a shell,
Its bitter clam’s edge digging in my sole.
I remembered why we pain, remembered well.
 
So I dug in deeper, dug deeper still,
My foot on the shard in the fleeting ho […]

Miracles are quiet,
great as the blades of mountains
that rise and score the clouds,
rending greater gashes
and letting light inside
a world that’s gone too loud.
 
Miracles are small
as a child’s feet ru […]

The snickering blade draws a fine, sharp smile
across the wrinkled surface of my thumb,
and the bread I pursued with all my guile
turns real, running flesh and blood. Numb
with pain, I watch and wait as dark […]

The bird quickly rapped
Against the window, hard,
The azure pane, that false pane.
At least, that’s what others
Told me—I wasn’t
There.
 
When I made it
Outside to see if
It still lived, still moved […]

When you’re waiting for the curtain to rise at a theatrical production, you wonder what the stage will look like. Will the first few moments show dazzling scenery or characters prancing about? Will silence or s […]

You’ve probably heard the expression “That was epic!” thousands of times. But what does it actually mean? Epic is used to describe a myriad of experiences, but we typically treat it as a synonym for big, awe-i […]

“Tell me, Wind,”
said Rain, “you
who catches me in
your cool embrace,
what it means to wander,
to wander the world,
to want no direction.”
 
“Simple, Rain,”
said Wind, who
caught its breath.
“So […]

Whenever I’ve asked my students to write a poem, I invariably hear the question, “Where do I start?” My immediate reaction is consternation, plus a certain level of frustration (in case you don’t know, writing […]

Found: a poem, down a dusty old path
that leaves have scraped with many final breaths.
When asked why it lingered so, it laughed
and held onto my arm, and hopped with wreaths
of dry, pressed daisies (all the […]

Editor’s Note: This is the second installment in our three-part series on harnessing the power of poetry, which explores the insights and techniques novelists can glean from poets. You can read the introductory p […]