Ken Mikolowski

can replace poetry in my life and one day surely it will

there are these trees. and beyond these trees, trees. and beyond that little or nothing. little fields and nothing but sky.

I think it is interesting though not exactly amusing how we go from day to day with no money. How do we do it, friends ask, suspecting we really have some stash stacked away somewhere. But we certainly do not and we also do not know how we do it either. You sure are lucky, some of our friends say. I am none too sure of that though, as I wait for the winning lottery numbers to be announced on CKLW. Thursday in Detroit is the day of dreams. We have been dreaming of a place in the country lately and I’m none too sure that is very healthy. And speaking of health that’s also been a problem that probably has something to do with no money, since we’ve all been sick lately, taking turns politely of course. Could you bring me some more tea one of us will ask, and the other will. In between the coughing and worrying our thoughts have often turned to crime. We seriously wonder how we can get away with a bundle with as little risk as possible. Last week we took our last $12 out of the bank and noticed how much more they had there though we had none. Of course we wouldn’t rob that bank, they know us there as the ones who bring the rolls of pennies in. And just yesterday they fish-eyed us for trying to cash our son’s xmas bond from his grandparents after only one month. So we wouldn’t try to rob that bank, but I do know of one up north that may be possible. . . I know this just seems like romantic dreaming but I practically make a career of reading detective stories, and God knows, I have no other. Anyway if the right opportunity comes along, we are more than ready to meet it. But this is a time of waiting, the I Ching says, though it does not say how we are to eat while waiting. And soon we will have another mouth to feed— Ann now in her seventh month, and that is often in our thoughts. Besides all that we are both over thirty, artist and poet, still waiting to cross the great water. Meanwhile, day after day, there is still Detroit to be dealt with — a small pond says our friend Snee. Big fish we used to answer him, but that was a while back. Now we think maybe Lake Erie is the great water referred to in the I Ching, and if we wait long enough we can walk across — to Buffalo or Cleveland. In a healthy person, says the philosopher, self-pity can be a forerunner to action: once the problem is seen clearly, a solution may be found at hand. And as I said, I think it is interesting though not exactly amusing.

Fighting a losing battle lives next door to a vibrant woman in her 30’s. When he talks to her sub-mediocre takes over in a big way. Zombie-ized by the big eye she even sleeps with it on. Just sign me: concerned.