Coffee Run

By James Croal Jackson

The rain is the rain, and everyone is in
a mood as I clock in at nine P.M.
for my twelve hour shift after
downing a peanut butter mocha
from Yinz, where Camille
had a large order of ten
coffees for the costume
department before me.
It was the first time
I’d seen her at this job, 
even though we have
been working together
again for months, and
every now and then I
feel alive, and seen,
because in my hole
no one recognizes me,
but Camille had her
ten drinks, and me, 
my nervous laughter,
and we walked
out into the night,
two routes to
the same destination,
shrouded in
invisibility.

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 ITERANT, Skipjack Review, and The Indianapolis Review. He edits The Mantle Poetry from Nashville, Tennessee. (jamescroaljackson.com)