I am not the great performer 

you think I am. 

 

I’m not gallant, 

my God, but the temerity 

 

I feel in asking a person 

with a voice like a doormat 

 

to speak my name– 

my face to the wall 

 

the microphone 

asks if I know I am alive– 

 

the words on screen 

confuse the lyric, 

 

a simple song  

I risk just to hear 

 

my own voice.

 

Author

  • James Croal Jackson

    James Croal Jackson is a Filipino-American poet who works in film production. His latest chapbooks are Count Seeds With Me (Ethel Zine & Micro-Press, 2022) and Our Past Leaves (Kelsay Books, 2021). Recent poems are in Stirring, Vilas Avenue, and *82 Review. He edits The Mantle Poetry from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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James Croal Jackson Karaoke Poem Poetry Voice