
#2
Washing Dayby Michael Pollick
she never once minded the dust,
as he carried them both into
town, his mind filled with thoughts
of discounted hardware.
Completed

#3
Makebelieve Ballroomby Michael Pollick
and when all that remains of
our dimestore dances are scuffs
on aching linoleum,
I shall consider you carefully,
and know that we were gods once.
Completed

#5
Sea of Reedsby Michael Pollick
My gas-stained hands touch her steel,
and for a moment all the world seems unemployed.
(I stand in a hole reamed out by greedy oresmen,
and silently wait for their own...
Completed

#6
Pearl Killersby Michael Pollick
The Allegheny is an ancient river
by most standards-
You'll find plenty of evidence
that shells once ruled the Earth;
It was on this river that my Dad
used his firs...
Completed

#7
Auxilliariesby Michael Pollick
The five older ladies have poured their tea again,
And look to each other for recognition.
This has been quite a summer, yes it has,
And Charles and William and my boy W...
Completed

#8
Petty Theodicyby Michael Pollick
Theodicy is a philosophy which examines God's apparent silence during times of human need. I wrote this piece as if God had returned to Earth and no one even noticed.
T...
Completed

#10
Gate Knowledgeby Michael Pollick
This is where the desperate stitches
begin to take hold -
In the wary edges of unproven cloth;
In the delicate fears of virtuous women,
In the fevered robes of noble sol...
Completed

#11
Breath of a Child's Undoingby Michael Pollick
Spring and breeze and such were oh so powerful then-
I fiddled and I fiddled and I fiddled
while Rome was still smoking;
I danced and I whittled
and I climbed and I gigg...
Completed

#12
Plane Wrecksby Michael Pollick
Leaving Iowa behind simply cleared
the mind of many a pop idol;
Farmers' sons and factories' daughters
loved to twist and bellow,
flaming out to immoral race records...
Completed

#13
Pinaud's Tonicby Michael Pollick
Five disabled dollars later, this man is cleansed-
Briefly allowed to borrow some human sunlight
On another stranger’s bench.
Completed

#14
Love and Lagniappeby Michael Pollick
This is how easily two stiff souls
can learn to bend,
And pivot around the mulberry times
Like dancers,
defining their time and space.
Completed

#15
Brother Juddby Michael Pollick
The fish could hardly be expected to remember us-
Two sleep-dusted Ohio boys, working a pole with Brother Blake,
methodically plinking the glass of Heritage Lake.
Completed

#16
Crusader Rabbitby Michael Pollick
I picked up my first stray when I was five, and it promptly died.
He was a fine catch, as strays go -
Strong in spirit, eminently playful, relatively grateful;
But he so...
Completed

#17
Urim and Thumminby Michael Pollick
Your tattooed stigmata is showing, my dear-
that spot of willful blood lies dormant;
while greedy hosts of Angels draw illicit lots,
and seek redemption in performanc...
Completed

#18
Snapshot: Kittanning, Pennsylvani...by Michael Pollick
Looking north up South Water street,
the dying stand solid as
parking meters, finding finer spirits
underground than the ones
they were promised.
Completed

#19
Cleft for Meby Michael Pollick
Four small whispers can now leave rehearsal,
the last cigarette has been ground to ashes.
It was once important for us to kill some Negroes,
no matter how many times the...
Completed


