Coming In
Stephen Jackson
That screen door slam, at the back of
Ohio Avenue—Tuscarawas River smell
full in the air, full on my skin—
pitchfork moon in what’s left of blue sky
stuck inside my brain, the smell of
pork chops frying up in the pan,
window fan humming, high summer heat,
and the sweetest iced sweet tea—while
memories of boys, swimming naked
in strobes of sun at Newman Creek, flash
inside my head until my heart has come
unstrung—mother calls out,
Get cleaned up, dinner’s almost done.
About the Author
Stephen Jackson grew up in Ohio and now makes his home in the Pacific Northwest. His poems appear in numerous magazines, journals, and anthologies from around the world, with more recent work in the UKs fourteen poems, Canada’s Prairie Fire, the International Human Rights Art Movement anthology, A Human Voice, and the Washington State Queer Poetry Anthology.