By PETER ORESICK

Reading,

weary again.

I think of Marx’s eyes:

hard, indefatigable pepper-

corns.

Outside, sprinklers

whir and spin, persistent

as the March of Dimes

volunteer. I give, I give.

These books are sunlight.

trapped in clear jars—limp light.

A person could live fishing

or berrying. Some life.

No, I want to be that squirrel

bounding across the high voltage wire

while kids on skates, kids in cars,

rage below.

Moonlight: lead me over.

From “Iconoscope: New and Selected Poems” by Peter Oresick Peter Oresick (pronounced o-RES-ik) (1955-2016) was a poet, publisher, professor, and painter of Carpatho-Rusyn descent. The son and grandson of glassworkers, Peter grew up in the working class factory town of Ford City, PA located northeast of Pittsburgh on the Allegheny River. His work explores the themes of work, workers, and the working class, as well as family, regional history, and the interplay between the sacred and the secular. Peter Oresick edited two collections of working-class poetry—Working Classics: Poems on Industrial Life and For a Living: The Poetry of Work. His poetry volumes include Iconoscope: New & Selected Poems, Warhol-o-Rama, and Definitions.

(TMC newspaper VOL. 48 No. 9 November 2018. All rights reserved)