Icemaker

A true

poem first

finds its

way into

words as

flooding, irresistible

forcebut

trades heat

over time

for stability,

evens out

and settles

down, cooling

at last

into the

crystalline, immoveable

(and yet

moving) object.

Writing Desk

Too little

of what

takes place

here (too

rarely in

the first

place) ever

does take

shape to

speak of.

Creek

Wed hunch down, held rapt

by the crawdads caught up in

our bucket-rapture.

1. The Dauphin

A borrowed fame equipped him for the race:

he bore his fathers name and wore his face.

2. The Populist

Each stop he made so many promises

his own top aides turned doubting Thomases.

3. The Spoiler

He took a twisted pride in tearing down

the side that didnt take him for a clown.

2000

Robert M. West