Aquatic Visual

Aquatic Visual

Where do we want to swim?

The clarity

of the South Pacific reef

is only matched 

by the artificial pool

contained in protective concrete, 

and the cold spring,

permeating up 

from the stone, 

while the predators 

hide in the murky mix 

of the storm churned ocean 

and the rolling mud river 

waiting to gaff 

and pull us together 

from the surface; 

a savior with teeth 

releasing us 

from the boundaries of flesh.

-Robert L. Jackson III

Listening (Grateful Perspective)

Listening (Grateful Perspective)

Songs

that never caused ripples

on the morning water,

now crash and wear the stones 

with curled white knuckles, 

or maybe the palms 

have just forgotten 

how they once bent 

amid the hurricane 

that rewrote the musical staff, 

changing the channels and passed 

to open and close.

But now my aging borders

crack, 

spilling the fertile soil 

and welcoming the tides

to enter.

Robert L. Jackson III