Note
Captivated by the Facebook updates of an old high school friend, Robert Frost, and his increasingly nomadic lifestyle, poet and novelist Stacy Skolnik has shaped Robert’s posts into new poems and an idiosyncratic and tender portrait of a life lived on the furthermost edges of American society. The full collection, Robert Frost, is forthcoming from Book Works in June 2026. Poems from the collection were awarded the Poetry Project’s 2025 Lisa Brannan Prize.
Four Poems
I like how these meters save
my space. Once I pay the fee
that spot belongs to me
until the time runs out.
If that jerk comes
into my parking space he’ll be
trespassing. I can for once
turn the tables, although I wouldn’t
want to
After getting kicked
out of Marathon I head in
to Oakwood plaza.
As I’m walking through
I see a Subway and remember
that a coffee is only 1.60.
So I head over
and they’re closed.
I check the hours, open at 8,
I check my phone,
745. OK cool I can warm up
while I wait for them to open shop.
As I play I see people
over by the gym.
It looks like they’re waiting
for it to open as well.
I move myself closer
so that they might hear and notice
but they don’t.
There’s a brick and concrete
overhang or awning or
whatever you call it,
all I know is if I go under
it will amplify my songs
so I do
and it’s much better.
Subway opens and I order
my coffee, 1.91. I hate how fast
food places charge different prices
based on location. I hope I have enough
and as I’m digging out my change
I drop a nickle, hey
I need my nickle back, seriously
I don’t think I’ll have enough without it.
After locating
the errant nickle I pay the lady
and grab my coffee. Well not only
did this coffee cost me more
than the other Subway
and not only was it a smaller
cup but look at how much
they filled it.
Don’t worry
I made up for it
by using 11 creamers
to top it off. I bet those creamers
cost more than the coffee.
So now I’m writing this
and I’m just about done with my coffee.
Time to see if they do a refill
and then head off
to see what the day has in store.
A very nice man
who works at the Vizcaya gift shop
just bought me a sandwich
and water. God bless you sir, thank you so much
BTW the water is ultra purified
using reverse osmosis, micron, carbon
filtration and ozonation and the bottle
is 100 percent recycled materials
Found some leftover fries
and a drink outside Rainbow
so I munched them down
and played Somewhere Over the Rainbow
on my guitar
God bless America