• My name is James J. Jackson and I am a poet and pop culture journalist from Northern California. I’ve written over 600 articles covering politics, art, and pop culture as well as 2 books and hundreds of poems. I started this blog in 2014 under the title Poems and Other Sh*t, which later became The Read.

  • Poetry has become the cliche of all cliches. For most “poets” writing has become an act of masturbation, a way to kill some time. Anyone who dares to ramble about stupid shit like love or hope get’s thrown into the lion’s den. Anyone who appreciates the beauty of a river’s flow or the symphonies of Read.