Aristotle wrote in “The Poetics” that poets have “an eye for resemblances.” At first, the matter-of-fact statement of likeness in this poem made me laugh. Then it made me think: What if we all walked through the world with such an eye, looking at the inanimate objects that surround us? What might we see that we relate to, and resemble? Poem selected by Matthew Zapruder

Credit Illustration by R. O. Blechman

The Pier Leaps Out

The pier leaps out toward the ocean with its skinny boards stretching dangerous little gaps to reveal beneath the gangway some blackening sea lions, and I think, I can relate to that pier.