Brewerytown by Iain Haley Pollock

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend January 26, 2016   Brewerytown   Iain Haley Pollock

This morning, the lovers— who last night were slurring and stumbling and when I looked out, each gripping the other’s taut throat in a clench of callous and nail—sit on their front steps. The woman smokes an idle cigarette. The man lounges two steps down from her and leans his head into her lap. Beer cans and husks of blue crab from their cookout scuttle by in languid breeze. The woman flicks the stub of her cigarette into the street and kisses her man on his forehead. In the kitchen behind me, Naomi turns on the coffee grinder. I look back at her but don’t bother to complain about the racket this time. I’m more interested in the lovers. Or, I was—they’re boring me now. I liked them better when the radio was pumping from their open window, and they were clawing out, under the streetlight, the terms of their love.            Copyright © 2016 by Iain Haley Pollock. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “In the street, on the television, in the (social) media, I sometimes catch myself gawking at the bad behavior of others. This outward gaze bothers me: I find that it prevents introspection and obscures my view of my own behavior, relationships, biases, etc. Also, this gaze creates distance between me and my subject(s), making me blind to our shared humanity.” —Iain Haley Pollock   Iain Haley Pollock is the author of Spit Back a Boy (University of Georgia Press, 2011).  He teaches at Rye Country Day School in Rye, New York, and is a member of the poetry faculty at the Solstice MFA Program of Pine Manor College.   Photo credit: Rachel Eliza Griffiths  Poetry by Pollock   Spit Back a Boy (University of Georgia Press, 2011) "Blues" by Elizabeth Alexander "Coming Close" by Philip Levine "Engines Within the Throne" by Cathy Park Hong Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038