“Rural Grown” by James Croal Jackson

I always mowed the wild green hair 
of lawn, eyes of corn stalking me 
from across the street.

Steering Dad’s tractor in the shape
of a nose ring in my middle of nowhere, 
how could I have known of tattooed

bridges? And skyscrapers
raising their fists to the clouds
in protest of the man?

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 recent poems in DASH, Sampsonia Way, and Jam & Sand. He edits The Mantle Poetry (themantlepoetry.com). Currently, he works in film production in Pittsburgh, PA. (jamescroaljackson.com)

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