R E U B E N J A C K S O N
3 poems
Reflection No. 9
Never once had I seen a poet
In dull brown orthopedic shoes.
Thick, nerdy glasses, yes.
The stoop I nursed was my
Mending Wall—
A semi-respite from the neighborhood's rage.
Who knew that beneath my guarded gaze,
I was rifling through my head
For words I'd use to praise Mountains?
Subway Platform Poem No. 5
A red windblown leaf
Nestles
In a sister's dreadlocks.
Promises, Promises
The next woman
Who calls me
Reub
Might be
Asked to chip in
on a bottle of
Anti-swoon
Medication,
Or she might
Receive a poem written
After I asked
The evening sky
For a phrase
Rhyming with
Sleepless nights
In which an aging
Brother's heart
Shrugs its shoulders
And begins
The terrifying journey
To blossom.
Reuben Jackson is the Archivist with The University of The District Of Columbia’s Felix E. Grant Jazz Archives. From 1989 until 2009, he was Archivist and Curator with the Smithsonian Institution’s Duke Ellington Collection. He was also host of Friday Night Jazz on Vermont Public Radio from 2012 until April 2018. His poems have been published in over 40 anthologies. His first book of poems , fingering the keys, won the 1991 Columbia Book Award. His most recent book, published in October 2019, is entitled Scattered Clouds.