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Graham Jackson

  • Hey there! Thanks so much for the kind comments on my articles. If you would like to follow more of my writings (mostly poetry and such) you can search up my Substack. It’s titled “After-Image.” I’d share the URL here, but not sure if it will come out. Again, thank you for the kind encouragement, and happy writing!

  • 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 […]

    • This. is. fire! You use imagery and diction so well. The last line is beautiful, “And while I wait, I feel alive.”

  • 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 […]

    • This was a beautiful poem and I love it, even though I am not an introvert. 🙂 This was a good reminder that though they may not be as outspoken as extroverts like myself are, introverts have just as important and life-changing things to say. Many of my friends are introverts, and I’ve definitely learned to listen better over the years. Thank you for the reminder!

    • Yes to this peom. I especially love the lines:Miracles are voices

      around the supper table, or

      on contrary sides of the street, or

      bidding good evening or good morning:

      never insisting, yet calmly asserting––

      if only the world would stop and listen.

      .
      Because I experience them so much. Thank you for this poem!

    • This is absolutely beautiful. Makes me smile. Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂

  • Such an honest and poignant poem! It’s so lovely how the reader enters the poem with loose screws…and leaves the poem with the screws finding their place. Comforting.

  • 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 […]

  • Thanks Bethany! When I saw the bird hit that window, its story likewise hit me.

  • Thanks, Scott! Amen and amen.

  • 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 […]

  • Graham Jackson wrote a new post 5 years ago

    “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 […]

  • Hi Libby, I’m glad this article was helpful/encouraging. 🙂 Thank you for reading!

  • 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 […]

    • This was really helpful and encouraging, Graham. Thank you for sharing this.

    • Thank you, sir!

      I find a sad lack of teaching on the art of poetry, and often feel sucked dry when I contemplate writing a poem. Sometimes poems still appear, sometimes they don’t; the feeling stays. Perhaps this article will help.

  • 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 […]

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