By Hand

From a short distance,
I’m enjoying
a nude beach gathering
I happen upon
on a bluff-lined shore
of Lake Superior
when a man comes hurrying
down the bluff’s steep path,
stands next to me,
beckons wildly with his hand
until he gets the attention
of a young blond woman.
He turns to me.
My daughter, he says.
Damn exhibitionist.
No respect
for the sanctuary of sex.
The woman rises and—
holding her left breast
in her left hand—
walks slowly toward us.
Before he can lecture her,
she puts a finger
to her lips, then points
at two connected dragonflies
on her breast.
They’re making love,
she whispers.
I nod.
She tilts her breast to the sun;
reds, blues, and greens
cascade from their bodies.
It’s so beautiful, she says.
It is, I say.
The man opens his mouth.
She puts her finger to her lips,
turns—still holding her breast—
walks slowly back to the lake.

ISBN 1-59661-098-0
63 pages $9

Pat O’Neill’s Deciduous showcases his poetic craftsmanship and insights— leaving the reader craving more. All who read it will long remember it.
—Jikiwe (Ed Gray),
Editor, The Cliffs

O’Neill’s use of language, pacing, and punch lines are equally sharp in three-line or three-page poems. He sets up a scene, then moves in for the kill with unflinching precision.
—Diane Montz,
Arts & Entertainment Writer,
Ironwood Daily Globe

Patrick O’Neill’s verse with its wonderfully “everyman” characters brings so-called “common folks” to a literary immortality that demands his inclusion in the pantheon of old and new great poets.
—Del Reitz,
Editor/Publisher, Newsletter Inago

Born in Pontiac, Michigan, Patrick O’Neill grew up and attended high school in Waterford, Michigan, graduated from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, taught English for a few years at Comstock High School, then moved to Ironwood in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where he teaches writing and literature at Gogebic Community College and writes poems, stories, and plays.