First love, is it
first love if the window
is orange and we both
are disappointed
making out after music class for twelve hours
adagio. I place my hands on your sweater and
step into snow.
Poem by 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)
Backwards Trajectory 