Ars Poetica, by Adam Pollak

The Great Piece of Turf, by Albrecht Durer (Germany), 1503.

Ars Poetica

We practice moving our hands.
We hope to get it right later (it will be like this, we say).
What is there in a watercolour painting of weeds and grass?
German speedwell, hound’s-tongue, and yarrow.
We study to improve our grasp on what is real.
Creeping bent-grass, smooth meadow-grass.
They sprout from mud.
Dandelion, greater plantain, cock’s foot.
Every thing has a name.

Adam Pollak

Adam Pollak is an MFA candidate and College Writing Instructor at American University, where he also serves as the poetry editor for FOLIO.  His poems have most recently appeared in Innisfree Poetry Journal, Little Patuxent Review, The Allegheny Review, and Prairie Margins.  He lives—quite happily—outside of Washington, D.C. with his wife and dog.