Stephen Pollock
Late in the day he sees
mostly sun behind the trees,
crackling in a maze.
Dusk returns
and silhouettes of branches burn
through embers of a blaze.
Though midnight’s indigo fires
enthrall these throngs of naked spires,
their blackness stays.
***
Stephen Pollock received the Rolfe Humphries Poetry Prize in his senior year at Amherst College. His poem “Syringe” was shortlisted for the 2018 Live Canon International Poetry Prize, and his elegy “Leaves” was a semifinalist for the 2019 River Styx International Poetry Contest. “Arachnidæa: Line Drawings” was awarded second place in the Poet’s Choice category of the Oregon Poetry Association’s 2020 competition. Steve’s poems have appeared in Poeming Pigeon, Live Canon Anthology, Ink to Paper, Buddhist Poetry Review and Pinesong.