46 A REVIEW OF I FORGET I’M ONLY HUMAN BY MARQUISE JACKSON
Marquise Jackson. 2021. 27 pages. $11.99 Reviewed by Megan McKinley
The chapbook I Forget I’m Only Human by Marquise Jackson is full of poems that are musical, rhythmic, and speak to the innate human experience of finding ourselves in art. Jackson’s voice in this collection is ever present and uniquely his, while also speaking to a deeper black culture, rooted in hip-hop and rap. These poems do not filter themselves for white audiences or anyone for that matter; Jackson speaks to his audience in the same way he would speak to a dear friend he’s known all his life. His personality and his history is present in every word and every line on the page.
With a background in live performance and music, there is a performance quality in this poetry collection that makes it feel like you are sitting in the front row of one of a live poetry reading. The best way one might describe these poems is loud. They grip you with their volume, and the natural rhyme scheme that seems to be Jackson’s specialty propel you forward in you reading. There is no space to slow down, and no desire to either. These poems are best read at the
