ALCHEMY

by Christian P. Knoeller

the trouble with money
like lust is
what we do for it

trading apples
for copper, futures for
notes, an abstract chain

reaction beginning with the hunger
of hydrogen consuming itself
in the heart of stars

forging the heavy
elements of our bodies
on the anvil of time

or peasants burning
the furniture of czars
to survive one more winter

on earth: maybe
the alchemists had it right:
desire itself is precious

About the Author:

Christian Knoeller served as Assistant Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, teaching literature and writing. His work has appeared--or is forthcoming--in such journals as: Ascent, The Connecticut Poetry Review, Cutbank, Ellipsis, Folio, Greenfield Review, GW Review, Hiram Poetry Review, Midwest Quarterly, Southern Poetry Review, Visions International, West Branch Quarterly, and Willow Spring, among others, as well as, Upriver 5: An Anthology of Wisconsin Writing. His chapbook, Song in Brown Bear Country, was published by Devil's Club Press of Juneau, Alaska. Mr. Knoeller, who holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley as well as an MFA in creative writing from the University of Oregon, is presently completing a research study on classroom discussion of literature for SUNY Press and, in addition, a college textbook on the teaching of creative writing in conjunction with the study of literature in the secondary schools, to be published by Allyn & Bacon in 1997.