Institution
Institution
claws and gnashes I will always
be
proud of you flowers drooping limbs
a butterfly
careens left out of reach always
I
hope you rip your wings out of my palm
and
fly before heavy winds smash you
into
the raging sea dark and pulsing
in
this cave you are ravenous for sun
so
if you must go into the thrashing storm
do
not look back
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)