Table of contents

Like Plums

Memorial Day, Charlie

Junkyard the Greeny Prairie

An Explanation

Downtown at His Sister’s House

For a Thursday Afternoon

At the Jobsite Friday is Barbecue Day

Seeds and Salt Water

Cloudbreak

Charlie Leaves Sal by the Hot Rocks at the Turkish Bath

The View

Sundays are for Market, Sundays are for Park

Waylaid

The Platform from Which

Reproduction: The Courtyard

Description

Abraham Burickson's chapbook Charlie is an exploration of what it means to find oneself living without an instruction manual in a world filled with strangers. The poems follow Charlie and Sal, two very particular Everymen, as they navigate the emotional and intellectual straits of their lives, seeking meaning, pleasure, and some sense of self. The road is treacherous; pronouns jumble, rhythms overwhelm, and the intensity of sensual experience causes these poems to shimmer with longing and uncertainty. Charlie guides the reader on a journey that is as enticing as it is unsettling.