Poet, author, educator, and spoken word artist: Jacob R. Moses

---

---

---

Beast Mode

Was I branded from birth?
Three sixes mark my identity

Whether demons manifest their
Trickery in my psyche is one thing

Or if blessings are embedded in
A three ring circus, whether the
Trio of perfect numbers truly
Showcases what it means
To truly live, for the word “lived”
Is “Devil” spelled in reverse

The Hebrew word for life is denoted
By the number eighteen, and for
Certain, my life has been eventful
Even with the branding, even with
Promises embedded in hieroglyphics

I’m still interpreting them, knowing that
Three stages of development and six
Days of work led to a resting spot

For certain, I’m still doing the work
Still discovering the penmanship
Skills necessary to draw three
Solid lines in the sand, triangulating
My troubles as iron pyramids
Transmute to gold cubes

Two extra faces to the Gemini
Three split personalities in one

Am I cursed? I know the answer
It’s three sixes of one and
Three half dozens of the other

Amazed that after forty years
I can still nail my calculations
And now I need to apply this
Numbing solution to the area
Where my soul is dissected in this
Operation of obtaining order

They say the devil is in the details
And my double helixes are the blueprint
Measuring the dimensions of my horns

I’m still discovering my wingspan
Knowing the only way to heaven
Is to fly, for a little rowboat won’t
Get me to the reaches of
Eternal salvation

Maybe I am a fallen angel
But I can always get up

---

---

---

JACOB MOSES

JACOB MOSES

Jacob R. Moses is a poet, educator, and spoken word artist from NYC. Publications featuring his work span five continents. He is the author of Grimoire (iiPublishing, 2021) and WTF: Writing Through Fascism (Bainbridge Island Press, 2024). In 2024, he was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by New Generation Beat Publications for his poem, “Lottery.” In 2025, he was nominated for Best of the Net by Bainbridge Island Press for his poem, “Reflecting Clarity.”

Currently, he is an English professor at Wagner College.

Professors Moses’s book(s) are on Amazon.
or
PoetryofJacobMoses.com/09/11/grimoire-on-amazon/

Name: Jacob R. Moses

Favorite Poets:

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Emily Dickinson,
Robert Frost, Ntozake Shange,
Langston Hughes, and Edgar Allen Poe.

Favorite Book:

“The Alchemist.“

Connect on Instagram.
Connect on Facebook.com