Tangled

I am now posting my poems also on a new Facebook page. I invite y'all to join us here:

https://www.facebook.com/Drypineshumidteapoetry

Tangled

The stiff,

plastic coated metal bends

but does not intertwine

as readily as the clear,

thin, fishing line.

Blunt fingers 

can pry apart 

the rolling curves 

of cables, 

but are innocuous 

to the minuscule, 

tightly wrapped threads. 

The random interactions 

and coincidences 

of curving time

has brought the linear flow 

to this fuzzy spot, 

without direction, 

into fixed, solid orbits. 

Even the nimble surrender, 

to cut 

the growths loose 

rather than free them.

-Robert L. Jackson III

Air

Air

In the crowded room

at ten meters apart,

electrically,

we are separated

by a salty ocean

100,000 light years wide,

the diameter 

of the Milky Way's disk,

spiraling

with 200 billion stars.

However, if gazing across

an earthly ocean

we are separated

by not even an angstrom

of air,

and the particles

leap to touch

across the gaps of nothing.

-Robert L. Jackson III

Vision

Vision

Digital statues

gaze down 

at windows, 

but no landscapes 

lie beyond the glass 

covering reflective veins 

of pure silicon

falling into a grid 

without hierarchy 

and branching regeneration.

These contemporary visions 

evolved from crackling flames, 

to charcoal drawings, 

to indigo symbols, 

to electrical sounds, 

to pictures in light, 

to pure information.

Robert L. Jackson III

Misplaced Poem

This poem was found hiding in a unrelated folder in my office.  I am not sure when it was written, but it was a while ago.

Adventure

We shoot for stars
with air powered bb guns
and try to bend gravity
like the gods used to do.
Now those days are gone
with only traces left
at the exotic locale
of mythical rocks and legendary seas.
So we travel
to outer space
through the dreams of children
but not to Earth.
The destination is in question
when places do not exist.

Robert L. Jackson III

Ragweed

The yellow flowers

pierce my lungs

in the wait for winter

to ease breathing

from this last gasp

of fertility.

The leaves

will coat the land

and obstruct many seedlings 

from hunting the air

in the thick warm blue.

From beneath,

rescue will come

in the form of worms 

reducing the sails

to brittle scaffolding,

and releasing

the soldiers to conquer.

Robert L. Jackson III

Lists

Lists

The glass under the full spectrum of energy

will sag, scratch, and cloud;

but keep the boundary intact

between the two atmospheres.

The impatiens and ivy may unravel beyond

above the window box and pot rim

or be sheared by teeth,

but still keep the roots watered.

Let the gypsum dry wall warp

and pale paint peel,

while the grass grows high

around a rusting mailbox,

but do not let

the timber beneath rot and buckle.

-Robert L. Jackson III

Spin free

This is actually a slightly older one that I just felt like posting.

Spin Free

Smash the compass,

shattering

the whirling

viscous sound,

so gravity cannot

hold its needle

on a pivot,

and air cannot

dampen its spin,

and light

cannot reflect

its directions,

and the metal

cannot feel cold

in our hands,

and the magnetic field

becomes invisible

again,

leaving

our souls

as the only map to follow.

Robert L. Jackson III