Poetry by Nicholas Olah

     Stephen A. Wolfe CC




Decrescendo

               To get to the center of anything            
                you must start with its edges.

Something I imagine
to be the size of an apple knife

carves a god-shaped hole
into the side of the heart

of our existence, then slices
down the seams like a decrescendo.

Is this what it means to break
the fifth wall?

To reach outside ourselves
in unison, to abandon the stage

for front row seats and watch a wondrous,
delicate thing become a pile

of too many pieces
for human hands

to hold?





Holy

The cold season sinks its teeth
into the earth. We hunker down

in the kitchen, warmed
by hopeful hands kneading dough 
like a lover’s too-tense hips. 

Something as powerful as a storm
is stirring--

               this meal will be nothing 

if not holy. 




Nicholas Olah has self-published four poetry collections, Where Light Separates from Dark, Which Way is North, Seasons, and You Are Here. Olah’s work has been published in Humana Obscura, Free Verse Revolution, Querencia Press, Wild Roof Journal, and more. Check out more of his work on Instagram at @nick.olah.poetry or visit his Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/nickolahpoetry.
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