Dishwasher

Dredge sponge chunks from the long
day. Necessary sins
dirty your hands. Don’t dig.
Don’t mistake machines for
diamonds. Bubble your hands.
Dishes steam. Enough. You
don’t have to work alone.

USA Junkyards

Rust, my lung’s jigsaw.

Exhaust, speaking’s black smoke.

Skid marks. I don’t stop.

Steppes become sycamores.
Deserts become lakes.

Lips, sun-dried
song and stale reed.

Saxophone, barren of sound.

You, between the dents.

The sun, unforgiving.

James Croal Jackson's poetry has appeared in The Bitter Oleander, Lines+Stars, Whale Road Review, and other publications. He is the winner of the 2016 William Redding Memorial Poetry Prize sponsored by The Poetry Forum. He currently lives in Columbus, Ohio. Visit him at jimjakk.com.