MARK WISNIEWSKI

To Bukowski, #1


you’re the only person
I’ve known who’s endured

the oddity of recent
days in this house

I’m not saying I’ve even
approached your acclaim: I’ve too
often backed
away from the fight

sometimes because

as you’ve long known

bringing as much as a glimpse
of your vision onto a page
guarantees probable
rejection & as you may

or may not know tonight

I still can’t
gamble like you did
  



55   The Paris-American

Mark Wisniewski’s poems have appeared in Poetry, New York Quarterly, Prairie Schooner, Hiram Poetry Review, Confrontation, Post Road, and Poetry International. His second novel, Show Up, Look Good, was praised by Ben Fountain, Christine Sneed, Jonathan Lethem, and T. R. Hummer. His fiction has won a Pushcart Prize and appeared in Best American Short Stories.

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   Next week's poet:

 Dorianne Laux