Poem by C. C. Russell
And I suppose it goes to show how boring,
how pedestrian I am;
stunted on this island
as I commute to the job
where I secretly pore over these
poems between customers.
The title was “Belfast Arioso,”
but at my first rushed glimpse
it became “Breakfast Akimbo,”
a tale of the table
pushed aside —
rearranged, misaligned.
Perhaps from sudden, unavoidable
lovemaking.
Here.
On the table.
Now.
These inconsequential recurrent desires filled
as need be.
Maybe an indrawn breath
at the unexpected
necessity of touch.
On the other hand, I could be projecting,
bagel in hand as I open the store
while you sleep in,
arms twisted under you
wrapped in the sheets
that wind their delicate way
around you.
The 2017 Luminaire Award for Best Poetry
FINALIST
We are pleased to announce this poem as a finalist for the 2017 Luminaire Award for Best Poetry, honoring the independent press’ best poems and hybrid works of the year. The winners are selected by an external panel that judges all pieces blind and chooses the full list of 12 finalists from hundreds of entries. Alternating Current does not determine the final outcome for the judging; the external judges’ decisions are final.
C. C. Russell (C.C.Russell) lives in Wyoming with his wife and daughter. His writing has recently appeared in such places as Tahoma Literary Review, Word Riot, Rattle, The Meadow, and The Colorado Review. His short fiction has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best Small Fictions, and Best of the Net. He has held jobs in a wide range of vocations — everything from graveyard shift convenience store clerk to retail management with stops along the way as dive bar DJ and swimming pool maintenance. He has also lived in New York and Ohio. He can be found on Twitter @c_c_russell.
