Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. PALERMO Sometimes when it rains I pretend I am in Palermo, Though I've never been to Palermo But I imagine that it rains there, too. And I imagine when it rains All the Italians go running Through the mud littered streets Dodging rain with newspapers And oversized glossy magazines. I imagine when it's dark and cold You are in Palermo somewhere In an apartment where the roof leaks And rain drips down cracked white stucco Tracing transparent veins Around the twisted frame Of an open, opaque window. When it rains I taste you and suck Like a moss weed sucking rain at the root And pretend we are in Palermo Together watching the island port running Going straight into leaking apartments To make love or to eat with windows open As the pound of rain picks up speed Product Description Human Mechanics takes a special look at the small moments in life that carry the most emotional meaning, and combines them with earthy, solid language grounded in everyday reality. These poems range the gamut from love unreturned and the power images and metaphor embody to the common problems of balancing a check book or being late for work. These are real poems for everyday people who want to hold a mirror up to life and see it in a slightly different way. About the Author Richard Jurek received his BA and MA in English from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He lives with his wife and two children in Indiana.