Rodd Whelpley

Those Gordal Olives at Whole Foods

In back of every perfect gift,
we crave to find the hand of God,
but rarely want to pray
to that girl, who never did well in school,
wearing now from nine to five
blue latex gloves
and dreaming always
of Saturday night,
as she makes
her minimum wage
and also the miracle
of these almond slivers
in the pits.

Rodd Whelpley is the secret poet in residence at the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency, where he also runs an electric efficiency program for 33 cities in the state.