Extrovert Summer, Introvert Winter

I introvert hard during winter

and my spring-self caterpillars

then transforms into something

unobtainable, seeking constant

stimulation if not fun: a walk

around the block for the fourth

time today hoping to run into

someone who will say hello,

another solo dive bar night

just to be around others’

knives, the sun beaming

through window a constant

catalyst that springs me off

my couch out to a rock wall

without the knobs to help

ascend. My life changed

a lot this year, and I count

the differences in the army

of lanternflies that make

my home theirs– their

stomped corpses strewn along

the sidewalk caused from

the bottoms of my neighbors’

soles, and I step on them again.

About the Author

James Croal Jackson is a Filipino-American poet working in film production. His latest chapbook is A God You Believed In (Pinhole Poetry, 2023). Recent poems are in Red Tree Review, Alabama Literary Review, and Sideways Poetry Journal. He edits The Mantle Poetry from Nashville, Tennessee. (jamescroaljackson.com)