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Working: Vol. 4, No. 2 - Issue 14 Summer 2025

Bradley S.​

Issue 14
was a quiet
odd kid
in grade school
and odder yet in middle school
when it wasn’t just
a quirk of being young
and new to friends.
 
But in high school
he found engines
and a garage
and would come in the evenings
to Ace Hardware
in my cashier line
with black stained fingers
a once-white shirt
and an oily rag spilled
out his back pocket
for the odd
small auto part.

Luke Reuteman is a part-time poet from Milwaukee, WI where he works as a hydrogeologist for the state. He’s best outdoors, where most of his poetry is written.

Copyright © 2025 Empyrean Literary Magazine, L.L.C.
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