Jackson Maloney

I Am Jackson Maloney

So much of the individuation process seems to be about separating oneself from others and declaring what we are not. Yet, it is also just as empowering to move further around the circle or along that upwards spiral of growth to reach the point where one can finally begin saying "This Is Who I Am." So, this is an experiment on my part in making some declarations, large and small, subtle and grand, of who or what I Am. There are humble voices, prideful voices, laughable voices, quiet, respectful voices, dignified voices, awe-struck voices, and many other voices that emerged from this experiment. I did my best not to judge the nature of them and merely allowed them to show themselves. This was really about seeing what would come out of writing the statement "I AM" over and over and over and over again until I exhausted it (for now). I sorted all the poems by date to track the evolution (if you can call it that) of the "I AM" 'voice'. I was curious to see what might have naturally developed, devolved, evolved, revealed, hid itself, laughed, cried, danced, sang and whatever else a voice can do over the course of time. For this reason, nearly all of these poems are unedited versions of what spewed out of my pen or my hands in the moment while I wrote or typed the words. I wanted to leave them raw to capture the full feeling and experience of declaring something in the present moment. It has been a good exercise of letting go and leaving it up to that creative snake which spits out words just the way they want to come. I hope you enjoy reading this, and may these poems begin or continue the process for you of asking who you are and what you are doing and how to express your own Self more fully and robustly.