Embedding Advanced Poll into PHP page

Hello - I am trying to add Advanced Poll to my index page, which is already a .php file.
The problem I'm having is that all my .php files use TemplatePower - so the entire arrangement of index.php is determined by what is in index.tpl. The content of the page must be assigned as an output - for example:

$output = file_get_contents("links.html");

...which can than be placed anywhere on the page by putting {output} into the layout of index.tpl. There is no layout whatsoever in any of my php files - the content is laid out according to its assignment on the template page.

I have tried making the poll its own php page and inserting it as file_get_contents("poll.php"); but it still shows up with the same error it would have if it were an html page (poll_process(8); ?>). My question is this - is there another php command besides file_get_contents that will allow me to put the poll as the output?

I hope this makes sense. I know very little about php, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!