Quayside Gallery

From among his paintings
leaning against the Seine seawall,
he reaches elbow-deep
into the open portal
of a chipped, vacant frame,
retrieving some wind fallen apples
casually cached there for his lunch,

shattering a still life.

Sinker

When they inundated the hollow
that was to become the Alcove Reservoir,
they left an entire village standing,
ancient clapboards sinking slowly
beneath the rising water,
houses, barns, outbuildings, bridle paths and boardwalks
fathomed out at 100 feet below surface level.

Makes you wonder
what the ghosts of that submerged village see:
a school of fish swimming indifferently down the lane,
some undulating light-dappled fronds,
and above - in their heaven,
the flat-bottom of a rowboat,
fishing line dangling down like kite twine,
and at the end of the line,
a leaded weight.

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Biography

Alec Kowalczyk is a native of South Troy, New York.
He is a civil engineer by day with an interest in the mechanics of poetry. He has published work in Miller's Pond, PIF, Red River Review, Santa Monica Review ...