I Forget I’m Only Human

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

kitchen table with a glass of wine, or whilst pacing your bedroom floor at night when you can’t seem to stop the racing thoughts inside your head.

Each poems provides insight into Jackson’s growth as an artist, and a human. Jackson invites his reader to delve into vulnerability with him as he explores his relationship with art, personifying it like a lover in R, and navigate his relationship with the world post Trump-era as a black man in poems like whatchamacallit and micro*. Keep an eye out for mentions of Jackson’s relationship with God and how religion inspires him in poems like i get scared too.

“I fear my Creator. Being face-to-face with God, learning

how I did not do all that I could have on earth. I fear

I am not doing all that I can on earth. I fear, I am.

I am and just can’t see it yet.”

These lyrical poems are a treat to the eyes and the ear; they practically beg to be read aloud. I would compare I Forget I’m Only Human to Wild Peach by S*an D. Henry-Smith, who takes their reader on a winding, spinning series of lyric poetry. These series of poems by Marquise Jackson in I Forget I’m Only Human bring his reader back down to earth and humanize us all in a beautiful journey of self-discovery.