Michael Dickman was born in Portland, Oregon, and is the author of the poetry collections The End of the West, Green Migraine, and Flies, winner of the James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets. He is also the coauthor, with his twin brother Matthew Dickman, of the poetry collection 50 American Plays. His poem “Returning to Church” was awarded the 2008 Narrative Prize. He teaches at Princeton University.

Four Poems

by Michael Dickman


Marco Polo

My grandmother set sail on a small air
   mattress into the middle of the pool
and fell asleep

Her fingers
dragging the water

The men talk quietly inside

The outdated
California architecture
dissolves

into pale greens, pinks
and stark
lemon

People on couch
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